supercooled superfluid could lead to new understanding of matter

Kurt Alfred Georg Mendelssohn

Physicists create the long-sought Bose-Einstein condensate, allowing easier exploration of quantum mechanics, while other researchers celebrate a new planet, a gene for eyes, brain images, and more ![Figure][1] Quantum portrait. Supercool Bose-condensed atoms peak near zero velocity. [M. R.

Gretchen K. Campbell

A. M. Guénault

A central theme in low temperature physics is an understanding of how different forms of matter become ordered (i.e. reach zero entropy) as absolute zero is approached. A particularly important aspect is the existence of superfluids, states of matter in which a fluid enters a highly coherent quantum state and in which unusual thermal and flow properties are therefore observed.

Bruno Juliá Díaz, Arnau Rios Huguet, Héctor Briongos Merino +2 more

Superfluidity is one of the most striking manifestations of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales, characterized by frictionless flow and the emergence of collective quantum phenomena. The theoretical foundation of superfluidity in fermionic systems was revolutionized by the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory, developed in 1957 to explain superconductivity in metals. This groundbreaking work provided a microscopic description of how attractive interactions between electrons near the Fermi surface can lead to the formation of Cooper pairs-correlated pairs of fermions that condense into a coherent quantum state. The BCS theory not only explained superconductivity but also laid the groundwork for understanding superfluidity in systems like liquid helium-3 and ultracold fermionic gases, becoming a cornerstone of condensed matter physics.

Philip Warren Anderson