Observation of ultracold atomic bubbles in orbital microgravity.

Autor: Carollo RA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, USA., Aveline DC; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA., Rhyno B; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA., Vishveshwara S; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA., Lannert C; Department of Physics, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA.; Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA., Murphree JD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, USA., Elliott ER; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA., Williams JR; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA., Thompson RJ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA., Lundblad N; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, USA. nlundbla@bates.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature [Nature] 2022 Jun; Vol. 606 (7913), pp. 281-286. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 18.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04639-8
Abstrakt: Substantial leaps in the understanding of quantum systems have been driven by exploring geometry, topology, dimensionality and interactions in ultracold atomic ensembles 1-6 . A system where atoms evolve while confined on an ellipsoidal surface represents a heretofore unexplored geometry and topology. Realizing an ultracold bubble-potentially Bose-Einstein condensed-relates to areas of interest including quantized-vortex flow constrained to a closed surface topology, collective modes and self-interference via bubble expansion 7-17 . Large ultracold bubbles, created by inflating smaller condensates, directly tie into Hubble-analogue expansion physics 18-20 . Here we report observations from the NASA Cold Atom Lab 21 facility onboard the International Space Station of bubbles of ultracold atoms created using a radiofrequency-dressing protocol. We observe bubble configurations of varying size and initial temperature, and explore bubble thermodynamics, demonstrating substantial cooling associated with inflation. We achieve partial coverings of bubble traps greater than one millimetre in size with ultracold films of inferred few-micrometre thickness, and we observe the dynamics of shell structures projected into free-evolving harmonic confinement. The observations are among the first measurements made with ultracold atoms in space, using perpetual freefall to explore quantum systems that are prohibitively difficult to create on Earth. This work heralds future studies (in orbital microgravity) of the Bose-Einstein condensed bubble, the character of its excitations and the role of topology in its evolution.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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