Physicists have created a quantum gas capable of reaching
temperatures below absolute zero and paving the way for future
quantum inventions.
The chilly substance was composed of potassium atoms which were
held in a lattice arrangement using a combination of lasers and
magnetic fields. According to
a report in the Nature journal, by tweaking the
magnetic fields the research team were able to force the atoms to
attract rather than repel one another and reveal the sub-absolute
zero properties of the gas.
"This suddenly shifts the atoms from their most stable,
lowest-energy state to the highest possible energy state, before
they can react," said Ulrich Schneider of the Ludwig Maximilian
University in Munich. "It's like walking through a valley, then
instantly finding yourself on the mountain peak."
Previously absolute zero was considered to be the theoretical
lower limit of temperature as temperature correlates with the
average amount of energy of the substance's particles. At absolute
zero particles were thought to have zero energy.
Moving into the sub-absolute zero realm, matter begins to
display odd properties. Clouds of atoms drift upwards instead of
down, while the atomic matrix's ability to resist collapsing in on
itself echoes the forces causing the universe to expand outwards
rather than contracting under the influence of gravity.
The ability to produce a relatively stable substance at several
billionths of a Kelvin below absolute zero will allow physicists to
better study and understand this curious state, possibly leading to
other innovations.
"This may be a way to create new forms of matter in the
laboratory," said Wolfgang Ketterle, a Nobel laureate at MIT,
commenting on the results.
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