Australian physicists recently proved one of the most astounding theories, confirming that reality does not exist until it is measured.

According to the team of researchers the experiment, constructed and carried out at Canberra's Australian National University (ANU), is significant as it has for the first time shown John Wheeler's famous delayed-choice experiment using a single atom.

Published in the journal Nature Physics, the experiment essentially question if a single atom can act like a particle or a wave, and at what point does it decides.

Previously the experiment, first proposed by the American astrophysicist in 1978, had been performed using photons, which unlike atoms do not have mass.

Although Wheeler's experiment earlier has been conducted using multiple atoms, but physicist Andrew Truscott from ANU's research school of physics and engineering said using more than one atom would make it difficult for them to prove that the atom didn't interfere with another, potentially influencing the results.

Associate Professor Truscott said, "An atom is a much more classical particle. For the theory to hold with a single atom is significant because it proves that it works for particles with mass".

As per experts, Quantum theory plays a fundamental role in many of the technologies we presently rely on. The theory has helped in the development of everything ranging from solar cells and transistors to computer chips and LEDs.

The ANU team not only successfully conducted the Wheeler experiment, first proposed in 1978, but went a step ahead and used atom scattered by light to study the quantum weirdness.