ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Boaz Almog - Quantum Researcher
Boaz Almog uses quantum physics to levitate and trap objects in midair. Call it "quantum levitation."

Why you should listen

In October 2011, Boaz Almog demonstrated how a superconducting disk can be trapped in a surrounding magnetic field to levitate above it, a phenomenon called “quantum levitation.” This demonstration, seemingly taken from a sci-fi movie, is the result of many years of R&D on high-quality superconductors. By using exceptional superconductors cooled in liquid nitrogen, Almog and his colleague Mishael Azoulay at the superconductivity group at Tel Aviv University (lead by Prof. Guy Deutscher) were able to demonstrate a quantum effect that, although well known to physicists worldwide, had never been seen and demonstrated in such a compelling way.

Experiment credits:

Prof. Guy Deutscher, Mishael Azoulay and Boaz Almog
High Tc Superconductivity Group
School of Physics and Astronomy
Tel Aviv University

Watch more footage from this demo >>

More profile about the speaker
Boaz Almog | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2012

Boaz Almog: The levitating superconductor

Boaz Almog: Lebdeči superprevodnik

Filmed:
2,644,569 views

Kako lahko super-tanki disk, premera dobrih sedem centimetrov, v lebdenju nosi svojo 70.000-kratno težo? Boaz Almog nadvse zanimivo in futuristično prikaže pojav, poznan kot kvantna vklenjenost, ki superprevodnemu disku omogoča, da pluje nad magnetno tirnico -- popolnoma brez trenja in brez izgube energije.
- Quantum Researcher
Boaz Almog uses quantum physics to levitate and trap objects in midair. Call it "quantum levitation." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
The phenomenonfenomen you saw here for a briefkratko momenttrenutek
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Pojav, ki ste ga tu na kratko videli,
00:29
is calledpozval quantumkvant levitationlebdenje and quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje.
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se imenuje kvantno lebdenje
in kvantna vklenjenost.
00:36
And the objectpredmet that was levitatingLevitating here
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Predmet, ki je tu lebdel,
00:40
is calledpozval a superconductorsuperconductor.
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pa se imenuje superprevodnik.
00:42
SuperconductivitySuperprevodnost is a quantumkvant statedržava of matterzadevo,
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Superprevodnost je kvantno stanje snovi,
00:47
and it occursse zgodi only belowspodaj a certainnekateri criticalkritično temperaturetemperatura.
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ki se pojavi le izpod določene
kritične temperature.
00:52
Now, it's quitečisto an oldstar phenomenonfenomen;
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Gre za precej star pojav,
00:54
it was discoveredodkriti 100 yearslet agonazaj.
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ki so ga odkrili pred 100 leti.
00:56
HoweverVendar, only recentlypred kratkim,
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Ampak šele v zadnjem času,
00:58
duedolžan to severalveč technologicaltehnološki advancementsnapredek,
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po zaslugi tehnološkega napredka,
01:00
we are now ablesposoben to demonstratedokazati to you
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vam lahko pokažemo
01:03
quantumkvant levitationlebdenje and quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje.
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kvantno lebdenje in kvantno vklenjenost.
01:07
So, a superconductorsuperconductor is defineddefinirani by two propertieslastnosti.
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Superprevodnik označujeta dve lastnosti.
01:12
The first is zeronič electricalelektrični resistanceodpornost,
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Prva: električna upornost je enaka nič,
01:16
and the seconddrugič is the expulsionizgon of a magneticmagnetno fieldpolje from the interiornotranjost of the superconductorsuperconductor.
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in druga: magnetno polje je izrinjeno
iz notranjosti superprevodnika.
01:23
That soundszvoki complicatedzapleteno, right?
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Sliši se zapleteno, kajne?
01:26
But what is electricalelektrični resistanceodpornost?
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Torej, kaj je električna upornost.
01:29
So, electricityelektrika is the flowtok of electronselektronov insideznotraj a materialmaterial.
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No, elektrika je tok elektronov v snovi.
01:35
And these electronselektronov, while flowingteče,
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Ti elektroni med svojim tokom
01:38
they collideTrčiti with the atomsatomi, and in these collisionstrčenja
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trkajo z atomi in ob teh trkih
01:41
they loseizgubi a certainnekateri amountznesek of energyenergija.
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izgubijo nekaj energije.
01:43
And they dissipateizginiti this energyenergija in the formobrazec of heattoplote, and you know that effectučinek.
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To energijo razsipajo v obliki
toplote, saj poznate ta efekt.
01:49
HoweverVendar, insideznotraj a superconductorsuperconductor there are no collisionstrčenja,
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Znotraj superprevodnika pa ni trkov
01:55
so there is no energyenergija dissipationzapravljanje.
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in zato se tudi energija ne razsipa.
01:59
It's quitečisto remarkableizjemno. Think about it.
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To je nekaj posebnega, kar pomislite.
02:02
In classicalklasične physicsfizika, there is always some frictiontrenja, some energyenergija lossizguba.
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V klasični fiziki je vedno nekaj
trenja, nekaj izgube energije.
02:07
But not here, because it is a quantumkvant effectučinek.
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Tukaj pa ne, ker gre za kvantni efekt.
02:11
But that's not all, because superconductorssuperprevodnikov don't like magneticmagnetno fieldspolja.
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A to še ni vse, saj superprevodniki
ne marajo magnetnega polja.
02:20
So a superconductorsuperconductor will try to expelizgon magneticmagnetno fieldpolje from the insideznotraj,
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Tako bo superprevodnik poskušal
izriniti magnetno polje iz notranjosti
02:24
and it has the meanssredstva to do that by circulatingv obtoku currentstokove.
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in sicer s pomočjo krožnih tokov.
02:31
Now, the combinationkombinacija of bothoboje effectsučinke --
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No, kombinacija obeh efektov --
02:34
the expulsionizgon of magneticmagnetno fieldspolja and zeronič electricalelektrični resistanceodpornost --
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izrinjeno magnetno polje in
električna upornost enaka nič --
02:40
is exactlytočno a superconductorsuperconductor.
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pa je točno superprevodnik.
02:43
But the pictureslika isn't always perfectpopolno, as we all know,
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Vendar vemo, da stvari
niso vedno tako popolne
02:47
and sometimesvčasih strandsprameni of magneticmagnetno fieldpolje remainostanejo insideznotraj the superconductorsuperconductor.
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in včasih silnice magnetnega polja
ostanejo v notranjosti superprevodnika.
02:54
Now, underSpodaj properpravilno conditionspogoji, whichki we have here,
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No, pod določenimi pogoji,
kot jih imamo tukaj,
02:58
these strandsprameni of magneticmagnetno fieldpolje can be trappedujet insideznotraj the superconductorsuperconductor.
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so te silnice magnetnega polja
lahko ujete znotraj superprevodnika.
03:03
And these strandsprameni of magneticmagnetno fieldpolje insideznotraj the superconductorsuperconductor,
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Te silnice magnetnega polja
znotraj superprevodnika
03:09
they come in discretediskreten quantitieskoličine.
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se pojavljajo kot diskretne količine.
03:12
Why? Because it is a quantumkvant phenomenonfenomen. It's quantumkvant physicsfizika.
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Zakaj? Zato, ker gre za kvantni pojav.
To je kvantna fizika.
03:16
And it turnszavrti out that they behaveObnašajte se like quantumkvant particlesdelci.
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Izkaže se, da se vedejo kot kvantni delci.
03:20
In this moviefilm here, you can see how they flowtok one by one discretelydiskretno.
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V tem filmčku lahko vidite,
kako tečejo diskretno, ena po ena.
03:25
This is strandsprameni of magneticmagnetno fieldpolje. These are not particlesdelci,
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To so silnice magnetnega polja.
To niso delci,
03:29
but they behaveObnašajte se like particlesdelci.
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vendar se vedejo kot delci.
03:33
So, this is why we call this effectučinek quantumkvant levitationlebdenje and quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje.
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No, zato ta efekt imenujemo
kvantno lebdenje in kvantna vklenjenost.
03:38
But what happensse zgodi to the superconductorsuperconductor when we put it insideznotraj a magneticmagnetno fieldpolje?
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A, kaj se zgodi s superprevodnikom,
če ga postavimo v magnetno polje?
03:44
Well, first there are strandsprameni of magneticmagnetno fieldpolje left insideznotraj,
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Kot prvo, nekaj silnic
magnetnega polja je ostalo znotraj,
03:48
but now the superconductorsuperconductor doesn't like them movingpremikanje around,
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vendar superprevodnik ne mara,
da bi se pomikale naokoli,
03:52
because theirnjihovi movementsgibanja dissipateizginiti energyenergija,
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saj njihovi premiki razsipajo energijo,
03:56
whichki breaksodmori the superconductivitySuperprevodnost statedržava.
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to pa prekine stanje superprevodnosti.
03:59
So what it actuallydejansko does, it locksključavnice these strandsprameni,
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Dejansko vklene te silnice,
04:03
whichki are calledpozval fluxonsfluxons, and it locksključavnice these fluxonsfluxons in placemesto.
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ki se imenujejo fluksoni, in
jih drži vklenjene na mestu.
04:09
And by doing that, what it actuallydejansko does is lockingzaklepanje itselfsama in placemesto.
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S tem pa pravzaprav sebe
vklene v določen položaj.
04:15
Why? Because any movementpremikanje of the superconductorsuperconductor will changesprememba theirnjihovi placemesto,
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Zakaj? Ker bi katerikoli premik
superprevodnika spremenil njihov položaj,
04:24
will changesprememba theirnjihovi configurationKonfiguracija.
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oziroma spremenil njihovo razporeditev.
04:26
So we get quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje. And let me showshow you how this worksdela.
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Na ta način dobimo kvantno vklenjenost.
Naj vam pokažem, kako to deluje.
04:31
I have here a superconductorsuperconductor, whichki I wrappedzaviti up so it'dto bi stayostani coldhladno long enoughdovolj.
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Tukaj imam superprevodnik, ki sem ga
zavil, da bi dovolj dolgo ostal hladen.
04:37
And when I placemesto it on topna vrh of a regularredno magnetmagnet,
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Ko ga postavim na navaden magnet,
04:42
it just staysostane lockedzaklenjeno in midairmidair.
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kar ostane vklenjen v zraku.
04:46
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
04:50
Now, this is not just levitationlebdenje. It's not just repulsionodboj.
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To ni le lebdenje. To ni le odboj.
04:54
I can rearrangePreurejanje the fluxonsfluxons, and it will be lockedzaklenjeno in this newnovo configurationKonfiguracija.
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Fluksone lahko prerazporedim in potem
ostane vklenjen v novi razporeditvi.
04:59
Like this, or movePremakni se it slightlymalce to the right or to the left.
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Takole. Ali pa ga pomaknem desno ali levo.
05:03
So, this is quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje -- actuallydejansko lockingzaklepanje -- three-dimensionaltridimenzionalno lockingzaklepanje of the superconductorsuperconductor.
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To je torej kvantna vklenjenost
- dejansko vklenjenost -
tridimenzionalna vklenjenost
superprevodnika.
Seveda ga lahko obrnem na glavo
05:11
Of courseseveda, I can turnobrat it upsidenavzgor down,
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05:13
and it will remainostanejo lockedzaklenjeno.
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in bo spet vklenjen.
05:16
Now, now that we understandrazumeti that this so-calledtako imenovani levitationlebdenje is actuallydejansko lockingzaklepanje,
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No, sedaj razumemo, da ja to t. i.
lebdenje dejansko vklenjenost.
05:25
Yeah, we understandrazumeti that.
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Ja, to razumemo.
05:29
You won'tne bo be surprisedpresenečen to hearslišite that if I take this circularkrožno magnetmagnet,
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Ne bo vas presenetilo, da ko
bomo vzeli ta krožni magnet,
05:33
in whichki the magneticmagnetno fieldpolje is the sameenako all around,
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po katerem je magnetno polje povsod enako,
05:37
the superconductorsuperconductor will be ablesposoben to freelyprosto rotatevrtite around the axisosi of the magnetmagnet.
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se bo superprevodnik lahko
prosto vrtel okrog osi magneta.
05:43
Why? Because as long as it rotatesvrti, the lockingzaklepanje is maintainedvzdržuje.
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Zakaj? Dokler se vrti,
se vklenjenost vzdržuje.
05:49
You see? I can adjustprilagodite and I can rotatevrtite the superconductorsuperconductor.
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Vidite? Superprevodnik lahko
premaknem in lahko ga vrtim.
05:55
We have frictionlessbrezkompromisno motiongibanje. It is still levitatingLevitating, but can movePremakni se freelyprosto all around.
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Imamo gibanje brez trenja. Še vedno
lebdi, vendar lahko prosto potuje okrog.
06:02
So, we have quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje and we can levitateLebdjeti it on topna vrh of this magnetmagnet.
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Torej imamo kvantno vklenjenost in
lahko dosežemo, da lebdi nad magnetom.
06:11
But how manyveliko fluxonsfluxons, how manyveliko magneticmagnetno strandsprameni are there in a singlesamski diskdisk like this?
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Koliko fluksonov, koliko magnetnih silnic
pa je v posameznem disku, kot je ta?
06:18
Well, we can calculateizračunati it, and it turnszavrti out, quitečisto a lot.
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No, to lahko izračunamo in
izkaže se, da jih je kar precej.
06:21
One hundredsto billionmilijardo strandsprameni of magneticmagnetno fieldpolje insideznotraj this three-inchtri-cola diskdisk.
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Sto milijard magnetnih silnic
je v tem disku premera 7,5 cm.
06:28
But that's not the amazingneverjetno partdel yetše, because there is something I haven'tne told you yetše.
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Ampak to še ni tisti osupljivi del,
nečesa vam namreč še nisem povedal.
06:32
And, yeah, the amazingneverjetno partdel is that this superconductorsuperconductor that you see here
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Osupljivo je, da je superprevodnik pred vami
06:38
is only halfpol a micronmikron thickdebel. It's extremelyizredno thintanek.
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debel le pol mikrona. Zelo tanek je.
06:45
And this extremelyizredno thintanek layerplast is ablesposoben to levitateLebdjeti more than 70,000 timeskrat its ownlastno weighttežo.
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Ta izredno tanka plast je sposobna v lebdenju
nositi več kot svojo 70.000-kratno težo.
06:55
It's a remarkableizjemno effectučinek. It's very strongmočno.
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To je izreden učinek. Velika moč.
07:01
Now, I can extendrazširiti this circularkrožno magnetmagnet,
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Ta krožni magnet lahko razširim
07:04
and make whateverkarkoli tracksledi I want.
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in naredim kakršnokoli progo.
07:09
For exampleprimer, I can make a largevelik circularkrožno railželeznica here.
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Na primer, lahko naredim
veliko krožno progo tukaj.
07:13
And when I placemesto the superconductingsuperprevodnih diskdisk on topna vrh of this railželeznica,
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In ko superprevodni disk
položim na to progo,
07:20
it movespremakne freelyprosto.
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se prosto giblje.
07:24
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
07:33
And again, that's not all. I can adjustprilagodite its positionpoložaj like this, and rotatevrtite,
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In to še ni vse. Njegov položaj
lahko spremenim, takole, in ga zavrtim
07:38
and it freelyprosto movespremakne in this newnovo positionpoložaj.
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in se prosto giblje v tem položaju.
07:45
And I can even try a newnovo thing; let's try it for the first time.
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In lahko poskusim še nekaj novega -
pa poskusimo to, prvič.
07:49
I can take this diskdisk and put it here,
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Ta disk lahko postavim sem
07:55
and while it staysostane here -- don't movePremakni se --
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in medtem ko je tu -- miruj --
07:58
I will try to rotatevrtite the tracksledi,
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bom poskusil obrniti progo
08:04
and hopefullyupajmo, if I did it correctlypravilno,
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in upam da bo, če sem vse naredil prav,
08:07
it staysostane suspendedzačasno.
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obvisel v zraku.
08:09
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
08:18
You see, it's quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje, not levitationlebdenje.
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Vidite, gre za kvantno vklenjenost,
ne za lebdenje.
08:25
Now, while I'll let it circulatekrožijo for a little more,
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Medtem naj še malo kroži,
08:29
let me tell you a little bitbit about superconductorssuperprevodnikov.
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jaz pa vam povem še
nekaj o superprevodnikih.
08:33
Now -- (LaughterSmeh) --
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No -- (Smeh) ---
08:39
So we now know that we are ablesposoben to transferprenos enormousogromno amountznesek of currentstokove insideznotraj superconductorssuperprevodnikov,
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Vemo že, da znamo prenašati velikanske
količine tokov znotraj superprevodnikov
08:46
so we can use them to produceproizvajajo strongmočno magneticmagnetno fieldspolja,
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in zato z njimi lahko naredimo
močna magnetna polja,
08:51
suchtako as neededpotrebno in MRIMRI machinesstroji, particledelec acceleratorspospeševalci and so on.
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takšna, kot jih potrebujejo MRI-naprave,
pospeševalniki delcev itd.
08:56
But we can alsotudi storeshranite energyenergija usinguporabo superconductorssuperprevodnikov,
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Ampak s pomočjo superprevodnikov
lahko tudi shranjujemo energijo,
09:01
because we have no dissipationzapravljanje.
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saj ni izgub.
09:02
And we could alsotudi produceproizvajajo powermoč cableskabli, to transferprenos enormousogromno amountszneskov of currenttok betweenmed powermoč stationspostaje.
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Lahko bi izdelali električne kable za
prenos velikanskih tokov med elektrarnami.
09:10
ImaginePredstavljajte si you could back up a singlesamski powermoč stationpostaja with a singlesamski superconductingsuperprevodnih cablekabel.
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Predstavljajte si, da bi
posamezno elektrarno ob izpadu
lahko nadomestili prek enega
samega superprevodnega kabla.
A, kaj je prihodnost kvantnega lebdenja
in kvantne vklenjenosti?
09:19
But what is the futureprihodnost of quantumkvant levitationlebdenje and quantumkvant lockingzaklepanje?
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09:23
Well, let me answerodgovor this simplepreprosto questionvprašanje by givingdajanje you an exampleprimer.
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Naj na to preprosto vprašanje
odgovorim s primerom.
09:30
ImaginePredstavljajte si you would have a diskdisk similarpodobno to the one I have here in my handroka,
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Predstavljajte si, da imate podoben
disk, kot je ta v moji roki,
09:37
three-inchtri-cola diameterpremera, with a singlesamski differenceRazlika.
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premera 7,5 cm, a z eno razliko.
09:41
The superconductingsuperprevodnih layerplast, insteadnamesto tega of beingbiti halfpol a micronmikron thintanek,
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Superprevodna plast bi bila
namesto pol mikrona debela
09:46
beingbiti two millimetersmilimetrov thintanek, quitečisto thintanek.
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dva milimetra, kar je še vedno tanko.
09:49
This two-millimeter-thindva milimetra tanke superconductingsuperprevodnih layerplast could holddržite 1,000 kilogramskilogramov, a smallmajhna caravto, in my handroka.
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Ta dvo-milimetrska superprevodna
plast bi lahko nosila
1.000 kilogramov, majhen avto, v moji roki.
10:00
AmazingNeverjetno. Thank you.
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Osupljivo. Hvala.
10:03
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
Translated by Irma Sutlic
Reviewed by Miha Helbl

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Boaz Almog - Quantum Researcher
Boaz Almog uses quantum physics to levitate and trap objects in midair. Call it "quantum levitation."

Why you should listen

In October 2011, Boaz Almog demonstrated how a superconducting disk can be trapped in a surrounding magnetic field to levitate above it, a phenomenon called “quantum levitation.” This demonstration, seemingly taken from a sci-fi movie, is the result of many years of R&D on high-quality superconductors. By using exceptional superconductors cooled in liquid nitrogen, Almog and his colleague Mishael Azoulay at the superconductivity group at Tel Aviv University (lead by Prof. Guy Deutscher) were able to demonstrate a quantum effect that, although well known to physicists worldwide, had never been seen and demonstrated in such a compelling way.

Experiment credits:

Prof. Guy Deutscher, Mishael Azoulay and Boaz Almog
High Tc Superconductivity Group
School of Physics and Astronomy
Tel Aviv University

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More profile about the speaker
Boaz Almog | Speaker | TED.com