When atoms are cooled to very low temperatures, they can behave like both particles and waves. Once the wave nature becomes strong enough, all the atoms can synchronize with each other and turn into a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The video below shows a collection of dilute strontium atoms turning into a dense BEC a few micronmeters in size in real time over 3 seconds. Below the video are pictures of the experimental setup to produce these ultracold atoms in the laboratory.
The realization of Bose-Einstein condensates in dilute ultracold atomic gases in 1995 opened a new direction in the study of macroscopic quantum phenomena and was acknowledged by a Nobel Prize in 2001. Many phenomena that were previously only accessible in condensed matter such as superfluidity in liquid helium and superconductivity in various solid state materials were now open for investigation in atomic systems with the tools developed in atomic, molecular and optical physics.
Applications of studying such ultracold atoms include gaining a better understanding of strongly interacting matter which could lead to the engineering of useful new materials, developing new methods of sensing and measurments for position, timing and navigation, as well as the potential realization of quantum computers. Possible new materials include those for magnetic data storage and transportation through the use of spintronics, where the spin of an electron is used directly to store and transport information. Potential new platforms for position, timing and navigation include ultra-stable atomic clocks and inertial sensing systems which do not rely on the global positioning system.
At the University of Maryland and the Joint Quantum Institute I worked with laser-cooled strontium atoms to measure ultra-narrow optical transitions, which could have applications in quantum computing and constraining physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. At MIT and the Center for Ultracold Atoms I worked with ultracold rubidium atoms to realize a system which simulates very high magnetic fields which would be unachievable with conventional techniques and elucidates the topological nature of quantum mechanical states.