Published: 22nd Jun, 2020
About
Scientists have generated an exotic fifth type of matter in one of the coldest places in the universe- the Cold Atom Laboratory–aboard the International Space Station and are using it to explore the quantum world.
Context
- Matter, material substance that constitutes the observable universe and, together with energy, forms the basis of all objective phenomena.
- Composition: All matter is made up of atoms, which are in turn made up of protons, neutrons and electrons.
- Energy utilised: Atoms come together to form molecules, which are the building blocks for all types of matter.
- Both atoms and molecules are held together by a form of potential energy called chemical energy.
- Unlike kinetic energy, which is the energy of an object in motion, potential energy is the energy stored in an object.
- There are four states of matter common in everyday life-
- Gases
- Liquids
- Solids
- Plasmas
- However, there is also a fifth state of matter — Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), which scientists first created in the lab 25 years ago.
- When a group of atoms is cooled to near absolute zero, the atoms begin to clump together, behaving as if they were one big "super-atom."
- These are created when a gas of bosons is cooled down nearly to absolute zero. At these extreme temperatures, matter begins to behave oddly and atoms become a single entity showing quantum properties.
- Bose-Einstein condensates straddle the boundary between the everyday world, governed by classical physics, and the microscopic world, which follows the rules of quantum mechanics.
- In the world of quantum mechanics, a particle can behave as if it were spinning in two opposite directions at the same time, or as if it existed in two or more locations simultaneously.
- Because they follow some of these quantum behaviors, Bose-Einstein condensates may offer scientists key clues into the workings of quantum mechanics, potentially helping to solve mysteries such as how to create a "theory of everything" that could explain the workings of the cosmos from the smallest to largest scales.
What’s limiting the research?
- Scientists now routinely create Bose-Einstein condensates in hundreds of labs across the world.
- However, one limitation that stands in the way of this research is
- These "super-atoms" are extraordinarily fragile and the setups used to create them are incredibly delicate, so the pull of gravity felt on Earth can disrupt both, making it challenging to learn much about them.
- As such, researchers developed the Cold Atom Lab, which can generate Bose-Einstein condensates in the microgravity found in orbit aboard the space station.
What is the Cold Atom Laboratory?
- The Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) was launched to the ISS in 2018 to investigate a strange kind of matter, known as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC).
- This suitcase-sized device chills atoms of rubidium and potassium in a vacuum chamber, using laser light to slow their movement.
- Magnetic fields then contain the resulting cloud of atoms, which is cooled to nearly absolute zeroat -273°C, producing a BEC.
- This chilly substance was initially theorised by Albert Einstein and Satyendra Nath Bose in the early 1920s as the fifth state of matter, following solids, liquids, gases and plasma.
- It is a supercooled gas that no longer behaves as individual atoms and particles, but rather an entity in a single quantum state.
- BECs have been produced in a variety of experiments on Earth since 1995, but these are hindered by gravity, which collapses the clouds in a split second.
- The microgravity environment of the ISS keeps them stable for multiple seconds, allowing them to be studied in more detail.
NASA scientists on Earth have collaborated with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) to corral the first ever Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) outside of Earth’s gravity.
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