HOT WORLD OF COLD PHYSICS

Arun Kumar Pati, Avijit Misra

In the classical world, temperature is a measure of how hot or cold a physical object is. We never find a physical system which can be both hot and cold at the same time. Here, we show that for a quantum system, it is possible to have superposition of two temperatures which can lead to a situation that it can be found both in hot and cold state. We propose a physical mechanism for how to create a quantum state which is superposition of two temperatures. Furthermore, we define an operator for the inverse temperature and show that the thermal state is, in fact, an eigenstate of this operator. The quantum state which represents superposition of two temperatures is not an eigenstate of the inverse temperature operator. Our findings can have new applications in quantum thermodynamics, quantum nano scale devices and quantum statistical mechanics.

Anders Kastberg

William D. Phillips, Christopher J. Foot

Introduction This chapter describes remarkable new experiments that have been made possible through recent advances in laser cooling of atoms. Cooling of atoms in a gas by laser light is in itself surprising and this technique is important in a range of applications. In particular the experiments described here take atoms that have been laser cooled and then use other methods to reach even lower temperatures, at which wonderful and fascinating quantum effects occur. As well as revealing new phenomena, these experiments explore the deep analogies between the roles played by light waves in lasers and matter waves. These techniques are widely accessible and enable skilled researchers in laboratories all over the world to explore exciting new physics. The key physics and techniques of laser cooling are described in depth in Chapter 6. What is “temperature”? We use the words “cold” and “hot” every day; for example to refer to the temperature of the air outside. But what do “cold” and “hot” mean for the air’s molecules? Broadly speaking, we can say that atoms in a hot gas move faster than those in a cold gas and that cooling, by taking energy out of the gas, slows the atoms down. In this description of the gas as a collection of atoms behaving like billiard balls, or little hard spheres, the lowest possible temperature occurs when the atoms stop moving but, as we shall see, this picture does not give an accurate description at very low energies, for which quantum effects become important. In this chapter we will look at the fascinating properties of atomic gases cooled to temperatures within one millionth of a degree Kelvin from absolute zero. We shall use the term “ultra-cold” to refer to such extremely low temperatures that have only recently been achieved in experiments on atomic gases. The techniques used to cool liquids and solids have a longer history and have made available a different set of possibilities (see Chapter 8). Note that most of this chapter refers to gases in which the individual particles are atoms, but the general statements about temperature scales apply equally well to gases of molecules, e.g. air, whose major constituents, oxygen and nitrogen, exist as diatomic molecules.

Jerry B. Marion

E. A. Hinds, B. E. Sauer, J. J. Hudson +2 more