Charlotte Zimmerman Comps Presentation
Monday, March 2nd 2015
8:30 am
Olin 101
Bose-Einstein Condensates
Bose-Einstein condensates are a reasonably new development in ultra-cold physics, first realized in 1995. The condensates come from simple statistical theory, yet their formation and properties challenge our understanding of how radiation interacts with matter, and how matter behaves quantum mechanically. This paper seeks to examine how BECs are formed, what challenges the formation faces, and ultimately the interesting properties and applications of Bose-Einstein condensation. Our investigation begins from first principals in thermodynamics and is then expanded to discuss the optics, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics involved in working with such a complex and interesting new form of matter.