The fifth state of matter, known as the ultracold Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), has been a crucial tool in revealing the mysteries of quantum physics. Now, researchers at Columbia University have developed a dipolar molecular sodium-cesium BEC, paving the way for a wide range of potential applications in exotic matter.
To achieve this milestone, the team used two microwave fields to create the BEC, which lasts for two full seconds—an impressive duration in quantum physics. In the mid-1920s, physicists Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein predicted the existence of this unusual quantum state of matter, which was later named after them. They theorized that when particles are cooled to temperatures near absolute zero (-459.67 °F) and maintained at low densities, they would merge into an indistinguishable whole.
Seventy years later, scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder confirmed Bose and Einstein's theory. Since then, BECs have become an essential tool for investigating quantum properties of atoms. Over time, advances in cooling particles even further and forming diatomic molecules have enhanced the usefulness of BECs in understanding the fundamental physics of the universe.
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