Bose-Einstein Condensate Formed in Record-Breaking Time

Researchers at Aalto University and the University of Eastern Finland have created a Bose-Einstein condensate in femtoseconds (fs) — a record-breaking time for producing this state of matter. Bose-Einstein condensation is a quantum phenomenon in which a large number of particles start to behave as if they were one. In the quantum, just as in the classical world, particles must first lose their energy in order to condense to the lowest possible energy state. This process typically takes from thousandths to trillionths of a second. The researchers combined a lattice of plasmonic nanoparticles with dye molecule solution at the strong coupling regime and pumped the molecules optically. The emitted light revealed three...