An artificial intelligence system can now recreate a Nobel-prize winning experiment, said a team of physicists of Australian National University. The system can recreate the experiment from scratch, under an hour.
The experiment performed by artificial intelligence system was the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, a hyper-cold gas. It was developed by physicists from Australian National University and University of New South Wales at the Australian Defense Force Academy, and for which three physicists won the Nobel Prize in 2001.
The Bose-Einstein condensate
The experiment involves the trapping of a hyper-cold gas in a series of lasers. It uses direct radiation to make a group of atoms stands still. The radiation produces different interesting effects.
The Bose-Einstein condensates are colder than outer space. At just a billionth of a degree above absolute zero, they are some of the coldest places in the Universe.
The trapped gasses are too sensitive to movements around them or fluctuations of energy, which is why researchers are working to find a way to use them as sensors for mineral exploration or navigation systems. If they succeed, the sensor could potentially pick up on tiny changes in the Earth’s magnetic field or gravity.
The fact that these gasses are extremely sensitive also makes the process of creating them very difficult, as well as maintaining them.
Artificial intelligence system
The artificial intelligence system can check out many parts of the process at once. This makes it able to adjust the process fast and effective. Humans could not work like this new technology due to the lack of capacities they have.
Artificial intelligence can make the condensation faster and under better conditions, as well as in greater quantities.
To make the artificial intelligence work, the team, first, make the gas cold to 1 microkelvin, which is a thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. Then, the researchers gave the artificial intelligence the control of three laser beams, to cool the trapped gas down to nanokelvin.
The system had to figure out by itself how to work the lasers and control it to and use the best parameters to cool the atoms down. After many repetitions, it found and worked more efficient ways.
The methods the system used to work the power of the lasers were surprising to the researchers. They said it was able to come up with complicated solutions humans could not come up with.
Co-lead researcher Dr. Michael Hush from UNSW ADFA said the researchers plan to use the artificial intelligence to not only recreate the Bose-Einstein condensate but also build a bigger and faster one.
Dr. Hush also said that the artificial intelligence system is cheaper. The system sets itself up quickly every morning and fixes overnight fluctuations. The device could be taken in the back of a car, and then fix itself and recalibrate. These benefits make the new technology more useful for field measurements.
The artificial intelligence is also cheaper than working with humans because it is easier to transport a machine than physicists. Also, the artificial intelligence does not eat, sleep or take vacations, like humans.
Source: Australian National University