Remarkably, the atoms were able to cross this barrier collectively and without energy loss, behaving as if the barrier were transparent, thanks to quantum tunneling. As the oscillating current flowed ...

Researchers at TU Wien have discovered a quantum system where energy and mass move with perfect efficiency. In an ultracold gas of atoms confined to a single line, countless collisions occur—but ...

The field of optical atomic clocks, in combination with ultracold atoms, has transformed precision timekeeping and metrology. By utilising laser-cooled atoms confined in optical lattices, researchers ...

Tiny “Ferris wheels” made from light and extremely cold particles could allow researchers to test a facet of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity on unprecedentedly small scales. Theories of special ...

Produced inside NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, the bubbles provide new opportunities to experiment with an exotic state of matter. Since the days of NASA’s Apollo program, astronauts have documented (and ...

The 20th century was marked by the discovery of exotic states of matter. First, liquid helium was observed to flow without friction at extremely low temperatures, a phase now known as superfluid. Soon ...

Atoms of the soft, silvery metal indium have been chilled to temperatures so cold that the particles can demonstrate strange quantum behaviour, such as forming new types of matter. Because indium ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Studying quantum phenomena—such as the quantum Hall ...

Physicists have discovered that hidden magnetic order plays a key role in the pseudogap, a puzzling state of matter that ...

Measuring the world precisely is much harder than it sounds. At very small scales, ...