Physicists from the University of Southampton have unveiled the first design for a portable atomic clock at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020.

The device's miniaturised hardware, developed in the Quantum, Light and Matter Group, launched today as part of the only UK university exhibit at the world-renowned technology showcase in Las Vegas.

Dr Andrei Dragomir and his spinout, Aquark Technologies, is demonstrating the quantum leap this week on the University's Future Worlds accelerator stand in Eureka Park.

Aquark Technologies is helping unlock the future of quantum technology through its unique microfabricated ultra-high vacuum chamber which employs cold atom technology. The result is the first simple, plug-and-play quantum device on the market that includes cold atoms, opening new possibilities for the next generation of computing, sensing and communications applications.

Whilst the feat of the atomic clock represents the first step in the market for Aquark Technologies, the spinout's main focus is on the vacuum chamber and novel optical geometry that sits at the heart of its devices, which allow the miniaturisation of most quantum technology-based systems.

"Quantum technology offers so many opportunities for incredible technological advances, however most of this is currently unreachable by users or companies due to the size, weight and level of complexity," Andrei says. "We will turn these incredible but complex devices into simple to use systems and we are delighted to present at CES the potential miniaturisation of future quantum devices."

The spinout's enabling technologies are building upon Andrei's doctoral thesis, 'Cold atoms in your pocket', which focussed on the construction of these vacuum chambers, the study of bonding technologies and the manufacturing of integrated electric feedthroughs, together with the development of new cold atom trap geometries.

Graham Stuart MP, Minister for Investment, says: "Aquark Technologies have used world-leading UK university research to launch a ground-breaking product which shows the commercial potential of quantum technology. We are significantly increasing science and R&D spend, strengthening the UK's European leadership in innovation and helping our companies push the boundaries in quantum technology to unlock the potential for all mankind."

CES 2020 includes over 4,500 exhibiting companies and is expected to attract more than 180,000 attendees wanting to see the next generation of consumer technologies.

University startups SPYDERISK, a cyber-security threat assessment tool, and Radii Devices, a cloud-based design assistant for prosthetists, are also exhibiting with Future Worlds at CES 2020.

Ben Clark, Future Worlds Director, says: "The Future Worlds stand at CES proudly puts UK university innovation on the world stage. Our students and academics are turning world-leading research into products that change the world. Exhibiting at CES has helped startups and spinouts from the University of Southampton gain hundreds of commercial leads and secure millions of pounds of investment, and we're excited to see these latest innovations make global impact in 2020."

Future Worlds is based in Booths 51733 and 51735 in Eureka Park at the Sands Expo. You can follow daily updates from Andrei and other University entrepreneurs on the Future Worlds website.

Physicists from the universities of Southampton and Glasgow have conducted an innovative low-energy experiment that tests the unexplained interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity.

The collaborative research studied the quantum interference effect, known as the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) dip, in a rotating frame equivalent to curved space time. Their findings have been published as an Editor's Suggestion in Physical Review Letters.

Finding a consistent explanation of quantum mechanics and general relativity represents one of the greatest challenges in modern science, with many prominent experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider considering high-energy physics to unite the theories.

This new study instead looked to the low-energy regime by running an optical experiment in a non-inertial frame.

Professor Hendrik Ulbricht, Head of the Southampton Quantum, Light and Matter research group, says: "Scientists have tried for decades to find an answer to this profound fundamental physics question with no success. This experiment is a first step in a very promising direction as it questions the possible merger of the theories in a different way by looking in a completely different regime.

"The rotating HOM experiment is one possible answer to this question, but there are more and I expect this will become a fruitful research field in fundamental physics, starting from existing quantum optical experiments and turning on non-inertial effects."

Rotation is the simplest way to experimentally implement a non-inertial frame. Quantum mechanics is formulated with inertial frames in flat spacetime, with no acceleration relative between the particle and reference frame. In general relativity, gravity comes from acceleration because of curvature of spacetime. According to the theory's equivalence principle, gravity can then be mimicked in an experiment through acceleration.

Scientists installed the rotating frame by putting the HOM interferometer on a large rotating platform, with experimental parts moving with the frame while the photons were propagated in free spacetime. The experiment's observations matched the expected outcomes as defined by quantum mechanics.

The study took place in facilities at the University of Glasgow and was directed by Professors Miles Padgett and Daniele Faccio. Southampton expertise from Hendrik and Marko Toros contributed to the theory, data analysis and discussion of results.