Exotic particles, chilled and trapped, form giant matter wave
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 12:20
in Physics & Chemistry
Physicists have trapped and cooled exotic particles called excitons so effectively that they condensed and cohered to form a giant matter wave, a signature of a state called a Bose-Einstein condensate. A first for subatomic particles, rather than whole atoms, the feat will facilitate study of the physical properties of excitons, which exist only fleetingly yet offer promising applications as diverse as efficient solar energy and ultrafast computing.