Researchers Make Coldest Quantum Gas of Molecules (phys.org) 39
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: JILA researchers have made a long-lived, record-cold gas of molecules that follow the wave patterns of quantum mechanics instead of the strictly particle nature of ordinary classical physics. The creation of this gas boosts the odds for advances in fields such as designer chemistry and quantum computing. As featured on the cover of the Feb. 22 issue of Science, the team produced a gas of potassium-rubidium (KRb) molecules at temperatures as low as 50 nanokelvin (nK). That's 50 billionths of a Kelvin, or just a smidge above absolute zero, the lowest theoretically possible temperature. The molecules are in the lowest-possible energy states, making up what is known as a degenerate Fermi gas.
In a quantum gas, all of the molecules' properties are restricted to specific values, or quantized, like rungs on a ladder or notes on a musical scale. Chilling the gas to the lowest temperatures gives researchers maximum control over the molecules. The two atoms involved are in different classes: Potassium is a fermion (with an odd number of subatomic components called protons and neutrons) and rubidium is a boson (with an even number of subatomic components). The resulting molecules have a Fermi character. Before now, the coldest two-atom molecules were produced in maximum numbers of tens of thousands and at temperatures no lower than a few hundred nanoKelvin. JILA's latest gas temperature record is much lower than (about one-third of) the level where quantum effects start to take over from classical effects, and the molecules last for a few seconds -- remarkable longevity. These new ultra-low temperatures will enable researchers to compare chemical reactions in quantum versus classical environments and study how electric fields affect the polar interactions, since these newly created molecules have a positive electric charge at the rubidium atom and a negative charge at the potassium atom. Some practical benefits could include new chemical processes, new methods for quantum computing using charged molecules as quantum bits, and new precision measurement tools such as molecular clocks.
In a quantum gas, all of the molecules' properties are restricted to specific values, or quantized, like rungs on a ladder or notes on a musical scale. Chilling the gas to the lowest temperatures gives researchers maximum control over the molecules. The two atoms involved are in different classes: Potassium is a fermion (with an odd number of subatomic components called protons and neutrons) and rubidium is a boson (with an even number of subatomic components). The resulting molecules have a Fermi character. Before now, the coldest two-atom molecules were produced in maximum numbers of tens of thousands and at temperatures no lower than a few hundred nanoKelvin. JILA's latest gas temperature record is much lower than (about one-third of) the level where quantum effects start to take over from classical effects, and the molecules last for a few seconds -- remarkable longevity. These new ultra-low temperatures will enable researchers to compare chemical reactions in quantum versus classical environments and study how electric fields affect the polar interactions, since these newly created molecules have a positive electric charge at the rubidium atom and a negative charge at the potassium atom. Some practical benefits could include new chemical processes, new methods for quantum computing using charged molecules as quantum bits, and new precision measurement tools such as molecular clocks.
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Cold (Score:2)
That is... SO COOL!
I think I'm hilarious.
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Wait. Pottasium = Fermion and Rubidium = Boson? (Score:2)
Ok. Genuine curiosity. I thought Fermions and Bosons refered to elemental particles and quasiparticles in the standard model. But these are Atoms, a large (by comparison) structures comprised of subatomic particles.
Am I missing something fundamental here? I'm sure I am, but I'm failing to understand it.
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Oh? There ARE composite force carriers that are bosons, mesons.
I'm not so sure I would rule out the nuclei that are bosons either as possibly being force carriers under some conditions
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If you put together these elementary particles, it turns out that an odd number of them forms a composite fermion, while an even number of them forms a composite boson. If you want to think about it in terms of the spin-statistics theorem you referred to: you can put together two spin-1/2 fermions to form either a spin-0 or a spin-1 composite particle, and either one would be a boson. But if you put together three spin-1/2 fermions, the result has to be a spin-1/2 or spin-3/2 particle, which is again a fermion.
Thanks much for the island of cluefulness in a sea of stupidity. Caveat: I am not a physicist, far from it, but my understanding is that the sum-of-spins definition of boson is an approximation superceded by the current definition from quantum field theory, a quantum system with a symmetric wavefunction.
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Thanks for making my head hurt :)
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Incrementally Impressed (Score:2)