Raphael Lopes

In the quantum world, there are rules that seem to be broken. One of them is the conservation law: if in classical physics symmetry guarantees the conservation of charge, then in the quantum description this guarantee can disappear. This phenomenon is called a quantum anomaly.

Light can hold an atom in place, just like a jet of air holds a lightweight ball. But a dysprosium atom is no ordinary ball: inside it has many "gears" (electrons) that respond differently to light of different colors. To catch such an atom and keep it from slipping away, you need to know exactly how strongly the light pulls on it.