Why quantum microscope shows a ring and stuff surrounding the nucleus?

[Achilles]

This is a picture of hydrogen atom I think using quantum microscope, can you help me understand the picture, why is there a ring around the picture and also the difference colors and intensities (like its more intense color between nucleus and ring) representing?

[StringJunky]

I think the light outer ring is the orbital of the electron. It represents the zone where it is most of the time, with probability decreasing the further in or out it goes. The darker blue represents lack of occupancy.

[Achilles]

Is the inner ring around the nucleus from the nucleus or is that another probability density of where electron may be?

[StringJunky]

24 minutes ago, Achilles said:

Is the inner ring around the nucleus from the nucleus or is that another probability density of where electron may be?

My guess is it's a reduced probability density. Swansont will verify or not.

Edit: Reading a bit: That electron is in an excited state.

Edited August 23, 2018 by StringJunky

[Strange]

Without a reference for that specific picture it is hard to say. But what we see is the atomic force microscope (?) interacting with the electron orbitals. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbital

(SJ’s comment suggest we are seeing the 2s orbital)

[StringJunky]

13 minutes ago, Strange said:

Without a reference for that specific picture it is hard to say. But what we see is the atomic force microscope (?) interacting with the electron orbitals. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbital

(SJ’s comment suggest we are seeing the 2s orbital)

It's a photoionization microscope picture:

Quote

Her team decided to make a picture using a technique dreamed up 30 years ago that can be thought of as a quantum microscope. Rather than taking an image of a single atom, they sampled a bunch of atoms. This removes the quantum nature of each individual atom’s electron, forcing it to choose a particular location from those it is allowed to reside in. Do it with enough atoms and the number choosing each spot will reflect the quantum probabilities laid out by the wave function.

Stodolna’s team made a beam of atomic hydrogen and zapped it with two separate lasers that excited the atoms’ electrons by precise amounts. An applied electric field then pushed the excited electrons away from their respective nuclei, towards a detector about half a metre away.

The electrons emitted waves that produced an interference pattern on the detector (see “An atom undressed”). Crucially, the pattern was a projection of the spacings of the energy levels in the hydrogen atom, as laid out in the wave function, with bright rings where electrons were present and dark lanes where they were not (Physical Review Letters, doi.org/mmz). “You can think about our experiment as a tool that allows you to look inside the atom and see what’s going on,” Stodolna says.  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829194-900-smile-hydrogen-atom-youre-on-quantum-camera/

Here's a schematic of the process: 

A photoionization microscope provides direct observation of the electron orbital of a hydrogen atom. The atom is placed in an electric field E and excited by laser pulses (shown in blue). The ionized electron can escape from the atom along direct and indirect trajectories with respect to the detector (shown on the far right). The phase difference between these trajectories leads to an interference pattern, which is magnified by an electrostatic lens. [Credit: APS/Alan Stonebraker]  

Here's the technical explanation: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v6/58

[Strange]

15 hours ago, StringJunky said:

It's a photoionization microscope picture:

Cool! I haven’t seen that before

[StringJunky]

6 minutes ago, Strange said:

Cool! I haven’t seen that before

I hadn't either.

8 minutes ago, Strange said:

Cool! I haven’t seen that before

I can't fathom, in that schematic, why the sensor is perpendicular to the atom... or is it just because it's a 2D representation of a 3D object?

[swansont]

6 hours ago, StringJunky said:

I can't fathom, in that schematic, why the sensor is perpendicular to the atom... or is it just because it's a 2D representation of a 3D object?

How could it not be perpendicular, if you are trying to image the atom?

[StringJunky]

27 minutes ago, swansont said:

How could it not be perpendicular, if you are trying to image the atom?

Maybe I'm having a blonde moment but I can't see it.