Phys.org June 11, 2020
Scientists believe Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC) contain vital clues to mysterious phenomena such as dark energy. As they are extremely fragile it is nearly impossible for scientists to study BEC on Earth, where gravity interferes with the magnetic fields required to hold them in place for observation. Last week a team of NASA scientists unveiled the first results from BEC experiments aboard the International Space Station, where particles can be manipulated. An international team of researchers (USA -Caltech, Germany) documents several startling differences in the properties of BECs created on Earth and those aboard the ISS. BECs in terrestrial labs typically last a handful of milliseconds before dissipating, aboard the ISS the BECs lasted more than a second offering the team an unprecedented chance to study their properties. Microgravity also allowed the atoms to be manipulated by weaker magnetic fields, speeding their cooling, and allowing clearer imaging…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE , Open access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Bose–Einstein condensates on Earth and in space. Credit: Nature 582, 186-187 (2020)