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Physicists at the University of Bremen, Germany, produced the coldest temperature on record, an incredibly accurate measurement of 38 trillion degrees above absolute zero. They did this as part of an experiment involving the fall of a quantum gas and slowing its movement with magnets, a report of New Atlas Explain.
Absolute zero is measured at -459.67 ° F (-273.15 ° C) and it is the coldest possible temperature on the thermodynamic scale. In order for an object to reach this temperature, there would have to be zero atomic motion or kinetic energy in its atoms, which means it is impossible for scientists to ever truly reach absolute zero. However, experiments such as those conducted aboard the International Space Station’s Cold Atom Lab have been as cold as 100 nanoKelvin, or 100 millionths of a degree above absolute zero.
The lowest temperature ever
The University of Bremen team, however, broke previous records by recording a temperature of 38 picoKelvin, or 38 trillion degrees above absolute zero, during their experiments. In a press release, the team explained that “wby researching the wave properties of atoms, one of the “coldest places in the universe” [was] created for a few seconds at the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen. “
For their experiments, the team trapped a gas cloud composed of 100,000 rubidium atoms in a magnetic field in a vacuum chamber. This was then cooled to turn it into a quantum gas called Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Like quantum gases act uniformly, as if it were a single large atom, scientists use them in experiments to observe unusual quantum effects at the macro scale, with the aim of expanding their knowledge of quantum mechanics.
Future space experiences could be written in the stars
In order to reach the required temperature, the researchers dropped the BEC at the Bremen Drop Tower Research Center. As they dropped the gas 393.7 feet (120 meters) into the tower, they also turned the magnetic field containing the gas on and off several times. When the magnetic field is turned off, the gas begins to expand and when it is restored, it contracts. Switching slows the expansion of the gas to an almost complete stop, drastically lowering its temperature due to the reduced molecular speed.
The researchers were only able to maintain the record temperature for only 2 seconds, although they performed simulations suggesting that it could be maintained for about 17 seconds in a weightless environment such as the International Space Station. In space, scientists can confine atoms using much weaker forces because they don’t need to be propped up against the effects of gravity. This means that fFurther investigation could possibly take place in the ISS Cold Atom Lab (CAL), where astronomers last year reported the creation of a “fifth state of matter” during the BEC experiments. The CAL was transported into space by a SpaceX rocket in 2018 and it has since been used to observe quantum phenomena that would be undetectable on Earth.
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