Physicists observe individual atomic collisions during diffusion for the first time

In the world of research, diffusion is understood as a process in which tiny particles disperse uniformly throughout a gas or liquid. Although these media are made up of individual particles, diffusion is perceived as a continuous process. So far, the effects of an individual collision between particles - the cornerstone of diffusion - had not been observed. Now, physicists in Kaiserslautern and Erlangen have succeeded in observing the fundamental steps of diffusion by individual atoms in a gas ...