Experts from the University of Bremen reportedly managed to manipulate a cloud of atoms to the point where they were virtually static, producing one of the coldest places in the universe for a few seconds. Bringing them to a near standstill allowed the German team to achieve a remarkably low temperature.
The findings have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Absolute zero, technically known as zero kelvins, equals -273.15 degrees Celsius, or -459.67 Fahrenheit, and marks the spot on the thermometer where a system reaches its lowest possible energy, or thermal motion. It is reportedly the coldest temperature theoretically possible to reach.
The team reportedly warned this could have significant implications for our understanding of quantum mechanics, as the colder the temperature, the more peculiar matter acts.
The temperature this low cannot be detected by any thermometer, so they had to base the measurement on the lack of kinetic movement of the observed particles. The mechanism used to detect the temperature is known as a time-domain matter-wave lens system, and can see matter behaving like a wave.
The team used a magnetic lens to study the waves, allowing them to shape a quantum gas and use it to make a focused matter-wave they could use to control and monitor its behavior. Quantum gas, also known as Bose-Einstein condensate, is much less predictable than regular gas that’s made of a loose arrangement of particles.
“By combining an excitation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with a magnetic lens, we form a time-domain matter-wave lens system,” the researchers reportedly wrote. “The focus is tuned by the strength of the lensing potential. By placing the focus at infinity, we lower the total internal kinetic energy of a BEC to 38 pK.”
The researchers say future experiments could make the particles get even slower, and last at that point for up to 17 seconds, allowing for more detailed study.