European XFEL reveals quantum fluctuations in complex molecules
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- uploaded August 6, 2025
Due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum physics, atoms and molecules never come completely to rest, even in their lowest energy state. Researchers at the European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg have now been able to directly measure this quantum motion in a complex molecule for the first time. For this, however, as they report in the journal Science, they had to make the molecule explode in the process.
Ludger Inhester ( CFEL DESY/CUI), Rebecca Boll (European XFEL), Benoît Richard ( CFEL DESY/CUI ) and Till Jahnke ( Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics / Goethe University Frankfurt/Main) explain the experiment and results.
