![]() ![]() ![]() "With current instruments, you couldn't tell whether it was zero or just a very, very small number," Foot said. In fact, even if we were to reach absolute zero, we might completely miss it due to imprecise measuring techniques. Lower-temperature work is still at the research stage, and people are using these methods to test universal physical theories."Īt present, it's not possible to cool that final 38 trillionths of a degree - and several hurdles would have to be overcome for it to become a reality. "Laser-cooled atoms are already used in the atomic standards which define universal time (atomic clocks) and in quantum computers. "We're much more interested in these quantum effects than reaching absolute zero," he said. Where do electrons get energy to spin around an atom's nucleus?īut is there any point in trying to cool materials even further? Probably not, according to Foot. If there were a time warp, how would physicists find it? In this type of experiment, known as magnetic trap cooling, the gaseous particles reached an incredible 38 picokelvin - 38 trillionths of a degree Celsius above absolute zero and well within the range to begin observing quantum effects in gases. The team dropped magnetized gas atoms down a 400-foot (120 meters) tower, constantly switching the magnetic field on and off to slow the particles to almost a complete standstill. The lowest temperature ever recorded in a lab was achieved by a group in Germany in 2021. " to see quantum behavior in solids and liquids but for the gases we study, we need 10s of nano-kelvin temperatures to get these quantum effects." "The light exerts a force on the atoms which slows them down to reasonably cold temperatures, around 1 kelvin (minus 272.15 C or minus 457.87 F)," said Christopher Foot, an ultracold physicist at the University of Oxford. (Image credit: dra_schwartz via Getty Images)Įarly ultracold experiments in the 1990s used a technique known as laser cooling to begin probing these effects. Try as they might, scientists have never knowingly reached absolute zero during an experiment. ![]()
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