Title: Bose-Einstein condensates
Description: Learn about Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), a unique state of matter formed at near absolute zero, their discovery, quantum properties, and applications in physics and quantum technology.
Author: Alloya Huckfield
icon: LiAsteriskbose-einstein-condensates
A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a unique state of matter that forms when a gas of bosons—particles with integer spin—is cooled to temperatures extremely close to absolute zero. At such low temperatures, a large fraction of the particles collapse into the lowest quantum state, resulting in a single macroscopic quantum entity with remarkable properties.
First predicted by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein in the 1920s, BECs were not experimentally realized until 1995, when Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, and Wolfgang Ketterle successfully created them using ultracold rubidium and sodium atoms. This breakthrough earned them the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics.
BECs exhibit quantum phenomena on a visible scale, such as superfluidity (flow without friction) and coherent matter waves, making them valuable for studying quantum mechanics, precision measurements, and even potential applications in quantum computing. Researchers continue to explore their behaviour in optical lattices and under different conditions, deepening our understanding of fundamental physics.