Physicists in Germany have come up with a way to convert the energy difference between two quantum states of a group of atoms into work. The device adapts the principles of the familiar classical engine to the subatomic realm, giving physicists a way to study the nascent field of quantum thermodynamics in more detail as well as, possibly, build better quantum computers.
Pauli’s principle
All subatomic particles can be classified as either fermions or bosons. Fermions are the building blocks of matter; bosons are particles that carry the forces acting between them. Now, when a bunch of particles are cooled to very nearly absolute zero, so that their quantum nature comes to the fore, they would all like to have the lowest energy possible – but they can’t. This is known as Pauli’s exclusion principle.
