Transcript The two states of matter they didn’t teach you about in

Two states of matter they didn’t teach you
about in school…
Until Now!
Plasma
Bose-Einstein
Condensate
We all know about:
SOLIDS
Lower
Temperature
LIQUIDS
GASES
Higher
Temperature
But what happens if you raise the
temperature to super-high levels…
between
1000°C and 1,000,000,000°C ?
Will everything
just be a gas?
NO!
If the gas is made up of particles which carry an
electric charge (“ionized particles”), but the
entire gas as a whole has no electric charge,
and if the density is not too high, then we
can get
The 4th state of matter:
PLASMA
Some places where plasmas are found…
1. Flames
2. Lightning
3. Aurora (Northern Lights)
4. Neon lights
5. Stars
Stars make up 99% of the total matter in the Universe.
Therefore, 99% of everything that exists in the entire
Universe is in the plasma state.
The Sun is an example of a star in its
plasma state
6. Clouds of gas and dust around stars
6
So now we know all about
four states of matter:
SOLIDS
Lower
Temperature
LIQUIDS
GASES
PLASMAS
(only for low density
ionized gases)
Higher
Temperature
But now what happens if you lower the
temperature way, way, down to
100 nano degrees above
“Absolute Zero” (-273°C)
Will everything
just be a frozen
solid?
Not Necessarily!
In 1924 (82 years ago), two scientists, Albert
Einstein and Satyendra Bose predicted a 5th
state of matter which would occur at very
very low temperatures.
Einstein
Bose
+
Finally, in 1995 (only 11
years ago!), Wolfgang
Ketterle and his team of
graduate students (like me)
discovered the 5th state of
matter for the first time.
Ketterle and his
students
The 5th state of matter:
Bose-Einstein Condensate
In a Bose-Einstein condensate, atoms can no
longer bounce around as individuals.
Instead they must all act in exactly the same
way, and you can no longer tell them apart!
Here is a picture a computer took of
Bose-Einstein Condensation
The big peak happens
when all the atoms
act exactly the same
way!
(We can’t see
Bose-Einstein
condensation
with our eyes
because the
atoms are too
small)
Some other computer images of Bose-Einstein Condensates…
To really understand
Bose-Einstein
condensate you need to
know
Quantum Physics
In 2002, Ketterle and two other scientists
received the highest award in science for
discovering Bose-Einstein condensate:
The Nobel Prize
The five states of matter:
BOSEEINSTEIN
SOLIDS
CONDENSATE
Lower
Temperature
PLASMAS
LIQUIDS
GASES
(only for low
density ionized
gases)
Higher
Temperature