Aug 3 2010
University of Innsbruck’s physicists have noticed a quantum phenomenon where a randomly weak disturbance makes the atoms to build a systematic structure from a non-systematic one.
Hanns-Christoph Nägerl, who headed the scientific team, has published a paper in the scientific journal, Nature, about the transition of quantum phase occurring in a one dimensional (1-D) quantum lattice.
Researchers at the Institute for Experimental Physics used Bose-Einstein condensation of cesium atoms to develop 1-D structures in an optical wire of laser light. The atoms, present in the quantum lattices, are arranged closely to each other and the laser light prevents the atoms from breaking apart. The experimental conditions allow new possibilities to study the fundamental phenomena in condensed or solid-state matter.
The physicists noticed a pinning transition from a Luttinger liquid to a Mott-insulator, an insulated phase. In the experiment, the physicists demonstrated that for atoms, which interact strongly, a weak lattice is enough to hold the atoms in permanent positions along the wire. The single atoms were cooled down to absolute zero and remained in their quantum mechanical ground state.
Source: http://www.uibk.ac.at