Thermometer to measure coldest thing ever made

• Autores: Jacob Aron
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2919, 2013, pág. 10
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • With a quantum thermometer, one can measure the temperature of the coldest thing in the universe. And this new ability could provide fresh insights into black holes. The coldest matter known is a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)--millions of atoms that act as a single quantum object when cooled inside a magnetic trap. Lab experiments have formed BECs at half a billionth of a degree above absolute zero. Ivette Fuentes at the University of Nottingham, UK, says that it's the coldest thing they can produce in the lab; the closest thing to absolute zero. Now Fuentes and her colleagues have come up with a way to measure the temperature of a BEC without releasing it. They suggest trapping a few "probe" atoms--using lasers rather than a magnet--and moving these through the BEC.