The Centenary celebrations of iconic ‘Bose-Einstein’ (B-E) Statistics was recently inaugurated by Ministry of Science
and Technology.
In 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose proposed a new approach to understand the behaviour of particles or photons, based on quantum theory.
His collaboration with Albert Einstein eventually led to postulation of B-E statistics.
Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC):
- It is a quantum phenomenon predicted by Bose and Einstein (1925).
- It is a state of matter created when particles are cooled to near absolute zero (-273.15 degrees Celsius/0 Kelvin).
- All the atoms become a single entity at this point, and possess quantum properties, wherein each particle together functions as a wave of matter.
- Referred to as the ‘fifth state of matter’
- Properties of BEC include:
- Super fluidity: BEC has zero viscosity and can flow without resistance.
- Super conductivity: The zero resistance leads to optimal conductivity.
- Coherence: All particles in the BEC are in the same quantum state behaving as a single entity.
- Macroscopic Occupation: In a BEC, a number of particles occupy the same quantum state, leading to a macroscopic wave function.
- Super solid: Scientists have observed that BECs form high density ‘droplets’ that repel each other. When placed under certain conditions, including a trap, these droplets arrange themselves in an ordered lattice.
- A Bose—Einstein condensate (BEC) exists at higher temperatures also in materials hosting bosonic quasiparticles such as magnons, excitons and polaritons.