Weird quantum effect that can turn matter invisible finally demonstrated The bizarre effect is the first ever specific example of a quantum mechanical process called Pauli blocking. "What we've observed is one very special and simple form of Pauli blocking, which is that it prevents an atom from what all atoms would naturally do: scatter light," study senior author Wolfgang Ketterle, a professor of physics at MIT, said in a statement. "This is the first clear observation that this effect exists, and it shows a new phenomenon in physics." The new technique could be used to develop light-suppressing materials to prevent information loss in quantum computers.
What happens in the quantum world does not affect the real world in which we live. This is why when a cosmic ray (a high-energy particle) manages to hit a retinal cell in your eyeball, all you see is a brief flash of light. If a quark goes AWOL, nothing is going to happen to make your own atoms go invisible. Good grief.
"Now that researchers have finally demonstrated the Pauli blocking effect, they could eventually use it to develop materials that suppress light. This would be especially useful for improving the efficiency of quantum computers, which are currently hindered by quantum decoherence — the loss of quantum information (carried by light) to a computer's surroundings. "Whenever we control the quantum world, like in quantum computers, light scattering is a problem and means that information is leaking out of your quantum computer," Ketterle said. "This is one way to suppress light scattering, and we are contributing to the general theme of controlling the atomic world.""
?? The sun only shines because of quantum tunnelling. Without quantum tunnelling, the sun wouldn’t be able to fuse nuclei in its core.