Ultracold atoms - dilute gases with strong interactions
Martin Zwierlein
Universität Mainz
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Cooling atomic gases to nanokelvin temperatures has revolutionized
atomic physics. At such low temperatures, the weak forces between
atoms in a dilute gas become dominant and lead to new forms of
strongly correlated matter. Ultracold fermions develop behavior
analogous to electrons in superconducting materials. A new form of
high-temperature superfluidity has been discovered. Ultracold atoms
in periodic potentials formed by laser beams can have
properties of liquids or insulators. In the future, we plan to
use ultracold gases to create designer matter, i.e. to realize new
forms of matter in the laboratory which have been discussed as model
systems for many-body phenomena, but have not been observed in nature.