- Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are a type of quantum magnifying glass in which atoms lose their identity and behave as a unit of quantum wave action.
- Now scientists have developed a way to make a one-dimensional BEC using light, called “photon gas.”
- A new study reveals that a one-dimensional space barrier obscures the BEC condensation region, opening new avenues for research into quantum optical effects.
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), a fifth type of matter—the existence of which was predicted in the 1920s, but not observed until the 1990s—helps physicists exploring the nature of the quantum world. Because BECs coalesce into a single quantum machine at temperatures approaching absolute zero, they allow scientists to study quantum properties on a large scale. Because of this unique feature, some explain this matter like a quantum “magnifying glass”.
Since their first discovery in 1995, researchers have modified BECs in various ways to advance quantum mechanics research in a variety of ways. Earlier this summer, for example, scientists at Columbia University created BEC molecules as a way to create unusual forms of matter. Now, scientists from the University of Bonn and the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) in Germany have created a one-dimensional gas made of light called “photon gas,” and the team has tested hypotheses about and change to enter this unusual section. the first time. The results were published in the journal Natural Physics.
In fact, to make a one-dimensional photon-powered BEC, scientists had to make things faster—seriously, a lot cold. So, they implemented an ingenious method of creating a very cold gas in the microcavity of two highly reflective mirrors, placed only a micrometer (one thousandth of a millimeter) apart. A small container of dye mixture was then excited using lasers, and when a photon collided with a molecule of the dye, the photon was cooled until the material cooled down. By changing these bright areas, the scientists were able to change a property of the BEC known as dimensionality.
“We were able to use a transparent polymer in the reflective surfaces to create very small protrusions,” Julian Schulz, co-author of the RPTU study, said in a press statement. “These protrusions allow us to capture photos from one or two sides and then combine them.”
Scientists know that, in two dimensions, there is a precise temperature at which fusion occurs—similar to how water freezes at a certain temperature. But when things get down to one level, things get worse.
“The so-called temperature fluctuations occur in photon gases but they are so small that they have no real impact. However, on the one hand these changes can cause large waves,” Frank Vewinger, senior author of the study at the University of Bonn, said in a press statement. “We have now been able to investigate this behavior during the transition from a two-dimensional state to a one-photon gas for the first time.”
These “changes”, as Vewinger explained, disrupt the “quantum unity” of these one-dimensional systems and cause different gas fields to behave differently – the authors they describe this process as a step change that is “rubbed.” But this new layer of matter is still a “degenerate quantum gas,” meaning its properties are still governed by quantum mechanics. Continuing with the water analogy, it forms ice water at very low temperatures without ice. The condensation field is not clear because the size prevents the movement of photons.
“These polymers act as a kind of sewer, but in this case for light,” physicist Kirankumar Karkihalli Umesh, of the University of Bonn, said in a press release. The weaker this gas, the more effective the gas is in one direction.
Although scientists believe that this is only basic research, these gases can help to test new quantum devices. In other words, BECs are becoming a way to explore the unknown frontiers of the quantum world.
Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his past stuff on Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
#Scientists #Create #LightEmitting #Gas #Challenges #Conventional #Physics