Cold Atoms: A New Playground for Field Theorists

Eric Braaten

Published Dec 18, 2002• 0 citations

Abstract

The creation of the first Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms in 1995 marked the birth of the exciting new field of cold atom physics. Although the energy scale of cold atoms is as far from that of high energy physics as high energy physics is from the Planck scale, these fields have a lot in common. Cold atoms behave like point particles with local interactions, and therefore can be described by a local quantum field theory. Much of the physics of Bose-Einstein condensates can be understood using classical field theory, but there are some problems for which quantum field theory becomes essential. I will explain how methods borrowed from high energy physics are being used to make dramatic progress on some of the most challenging problems in cold atom physics.

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