The Bose-Einstein Condensate 'Fifth State Of Matter' Observed First Time In Space

The fifth state of matter, known as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), has been created in the microgravity of the International Space Station for the first time.

The breakthrough is expected to help solve some of the quantum universe's most stubborn conundrums.

Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) - were first predicted by Professor Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose, almost a century ago.

Statesmen

At this point, the atoms become a single entity with quantum properties, wherein each particle also functions as a wave of matter.

BECs straddle the line between the macroscopic world governed by forces such as gravity, and the microscopic plane ruled by quantum mechanics.

Scientists believe BECs contain vital clues to mysterious phenomena such as dark energy - the unknown energy thought to be behind the Universe's accelerating expansion.

This exotic and rare form of matter is only produced when a gas of boson-like particles is cooled to temperatures just above absolute zero (about -459.67F).

Lasers operating in a vacuum chill clouds of a few million atoms and they do so at temperatures colder than those found in space.

NASA

On Thursday, a team of NASA scientists unveiled the first results from BEC experiments aboard the International Space Station, where particles can be manipulated free from Earthly constraints.

"Microgravity allows us to confine atoms with much weaker forces, since we don't have to support them against gravity," Robert Thompson of from the California Institute for Technology, Pasadena, told AFP.

Peter Kr¨¹ger, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Sussex, in an interview to Lab News, said "We believe this may be the first time that someone has established a BEC remotely in a lab that didn't have one before. We are all extremely excited that we can continue to conduct our experiments remotely during lockdown, and any possible future lockdowns."

Dr Gadge, Research Fellow In Quantum Physics And Technologies at the University of Sussex, was able to make the complex calculations, followed by optimising and running the sequence, by accessing the lab computers remotely from her home.

"The process has been a lot slower than if I had been in the lab as the experiment is unstable and I've had to give 10-15 minutes of cooling time between each run. This is obviously not as efficient and way more laborious to do manually because I've not been able to do systematic scans or fix the instability like I could working in the lab," she said.

Nature Jornal

Creating the exotic matter on the ISS makes it easier to study its properties in a way that wouldn't be possible on Earth, due to the effects of gravity on atoms.

They are classed as the fifth form of matter after plasma, gas, liquid and solid, but only certain types of boson-like particles can turn into a BEC state.

This exotic type of matter has been on Earth for 25 years - the first was produced in June 1995 - but gravity has made it harder to study.