When atoms are cooled down to almost zero temperature, their properties change completely. They can turn into a Bose-Einstein-Condensate, an ultra-cold state of matter, in which the particles lose their individuality and can only be described collectively -- as one single quantum object.
At TU Wien (Vienna), clouds of ultra-cold atoms have been studied for years. They are a perfect model system to study fundamental questions of many-particle quantum physics. Now the research team of Professor Jörg Schmiedmayer (Institute of Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien) has found remarkable results which cannot be explained by any of the existing theories. When two ultra-cold quantum gases are coupled, they can synchronize spontaneously, oscillating in perfect unison after just a few milliseconds. This means that textbook theories about Bose-Einstein-Condensates have to be revisited. The results have now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
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