BOSE EINSTEIN CONDENSATES

BOSE EINSTEIN CONDENSATES

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Emergence of order from chaos in turbulent systems and Bose-Einstein condensation. This ordering leads to aeroelastic flutter and thermoacoustic instabilities as observed during the failure of the F1 engine of Apollo rocket during trials.

Concept:

Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs)

• Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) — the existence of which was predicted by Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose almost a century ago — are formed when atoms of certain elements are cooled to near absolute zero (0 Kelvin, minus 273.15 Celsius).
• At this point, the atoms become a single entity with quantum properties, wherein each particle also functions as a wave of matter.
• BECs straddle the line between the macroscopic world governed by forces such as gravity and the microscopic plane, ruled by quantum mechanics.

Why are BECs important?

• Scientists believe BECs contain vital clues to mysterious phenomena such as dark energy — the unknown energy thought to be behind the Universe’s accelerating expansion.
• But BECs are extremely fragile. The slightest interaction with the external world is enough to warm them past their condensation threshold.
• This makes them nearly impossible for scientists to study on Earth, where gravity interferes with the magnetic fields required to hold them in place for observation.