excited state
nounDefinition of excited state
: a state of a physical system (such as an atomic nucleus, an atom, or a molecule) that is higher in energy than the ground state
Examples of excited state in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Devoret and colleagues wanted to watch a single artificial atom jump between its lowest-energy (ground) state and an energetically excited state. — Philip Ball, WIRED, "Physicists See a Quantum Leap, Halt It, and Reverse It," 9 June 2019 At first, the ions will vibrate in an excited state, but diode lasers like those found in DVD players will be used to gradually scatter away their extra kinetic energy. — Quanta Magazine, "Perpetual Motion Test Could Amend Theory of Time," 25 Apr. 2013 The researchers prepared several initial configurations of ground and excited states. — Quanta Magazine, "Quantum Machine Appears to Defy Universe’s Push for Disorder," 20 Mar. 2019 For both the excited states and the ground states, the energy difference between the two spin states is small enough that a sound vibration can flip the spin and change the qubit state. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Straining a diamond makes silicon-based qubit behave," 20 Sep. 2018 The other two are excited states, which also have a spin up and spin down separation, but are at a much higher energy than the ground states. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Straining a diamond makes silicon-based qubit behave," 20 Sep. 2018 This keeps the rubidium atoms diffuse, slow moving and in a highly excited state. — Marissa Fessenden, Smithsonian, "Scientists Create a New Form of Light by Linking Photons," 16 Feb. 2018 This puts the molecule into an energetically excited state. — Kerry Hanson, Smithsonian, "How Sunscreen Protects Your Skin’s DNA," 31 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'excited state.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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