Overview:

• A Bose–Einstein Condensate is formed when bosons (particles with integer spin) are cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero (0 K or -273.15°C).
• At these ultra-low temperatures, a large fraction of the bosons occupy the lowest quantum state, resulting in quantum effects becoming apparent on a macroscopic scale.

Key Characteristics:

• Quantum Coherence: All the particles act as a single quantum entity, sharing a unified wavefunction.
• Superfluidity: BECs can flow without viscosity, leading to phenomena like frictionless motion.
• Macroscopic Quantum Phenomena: Behaviors usually reserved for quantum particles become visible in large-scale matter.

Founders:

• Predicted by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein in the 1920s.
• First realized experimentally in 1995 using rubidium atoms by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman.

Applications & Implications:

• Studying BECs helps explore:
  • Quantum computing
  • Macroscopic quantum mechanics
  • Atom lasers
  • Quantum simulations of complex systems
• BECs are sometimes considered a “fifth state of matter” alongside solids, liquids, gases, and plasma.