Simulation of Attosecond Experiments with Arduino-controlled LEDs
Standing
Undergraduate
Type of Proposal
Poster Presentation
Challenges Theme
Open Challenge
Your Location
Windsor, Ontario
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. T.J. Hammond
Proposal
We have developed a time fountain – a water fountain that uses the stroboscopic effect to appear as though water is levitating – as a demonstration for ultrafast physics. A water pump situated at the top of the fountain produces water drops at a certain frequency, which is undetectable by the human eye under normal light and is perceived as a continuous stream. By carefully matching the water drop frequency with strobing lights, we can make individual droplets become visible and control their dynamics by modifying this strobe frequency to appear as though they are slowly falling, stationary, or rising. This works by the stroboscopic effect, a visual phenomenon that occurs when continuous motion is represented by a series of short or instantaneous samples. We can use computer-controlled RBG LED strips to dictate both the colour and apparent falling speed of the droplets, and by using multiple LED strips we can have multiple visible streams of different colours moving at different rates. We developed this system to serve as a demonstration to attosecond science (1 attosecond = 10-18 seconds), the study of electron dynamics in a material. In this area of research, intense ultrafast laser pulses excite an electron wave packet into a superposition of quantum states and measure the evolution of these states. The Time Fountain we have created is an introduction to attosecond science by substituting water droplets for electronic wave packets and computer-controlled LEDs for ultrafast laser pulses.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Special Considerations
I would like to have the fountain on display near my poster so I would like to be placed near a wall outlet.
Simulation of Attosecond Experiments with Arduino-controlled LEDs
We have developed a time fountain – a water fountain that uses the stroboscopic effect to appear as though water is levitating – as a demonstration for ultrafast physics. A water pump situated at the top of the fountain produces water drops at a certain frequency, which is undetectable by the human eye under normal light and is perceived as a continuous stream. By carefully matching the water drop frequency with strobing lights, we can make individual droplets become visible and control their dynamics by modifying this strobe frequency to appear as though they are slowly falling, stationary, or rising. This works by the stroboscopic effect, a visual phenomenon that occurs when continuous motion is represented by a series of short or instantaneous samples. We can use computer-controlled RBG LED strips to dictate both the colour and apparent falling speed of the droplets, and by using multiple LED strips we can have multiple visible streams of different colours moving at different rates. We developed this system to serve as a demonstration to attosecond science (1 attosecond = 10-18 seconds), the study of electron dynamics in a material. In this area of research, intense ultrafast laser pulses excite an electron wave packet into a superposition of quantum states and measure the evolution of these states. The Time Fountain we have created is an introduction to attosecond science by substituting water droplets for electronic wave packets and computer-controlled LEDs for ultrafast laser pulses.