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Australian Centre for Quantum Atom Optics - Clayton

Published: 7 May 2008

Topic: The coldest place in the universe: A physicist's playground
Presenter: Professor John Close
Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Time: 1 to 2 pm
Venue: E6, Building 60, Clayton Campus

Over the last decade, we have learned to cool dilute samples of atoms to nano-Kelvin temperatures and lower. These ultra cold dilute gases, arguably the coldest places in the universe, are suspended in a magnetic trap in high vacuum where they can be precisely manipulated and detected with lasers and applied magnetic and electric fields.

Weakly interacting Bose Einstein condensates and degenerate Fermi gases, that were previously familiar to us only as textbook examples, have been studied intensively in recent years and have proved to be a rich playground for physicists. The field is currently sufficiently well developed that we can expect to see applications of cold degenerate gases to precision measurement and to fundamental questions in physics in the coming years. This talk will be an introduction to the field accessible to a broad physics audience at the undergraduate level.

Physics Lunch Lounge talks are aimed at first and second year students, but all are welcome.