SIGNIFICANT EVENTS - SCIENCE EVENTS
07/26/02
Rice Group Discovers Solitons in Laser-Cooled Atoms, Goes to Press
A press release that went public on July 18 emphasizes applying a new discovery in
laser-cooled atoms, long-lived waves called solitons, to detection of geologic events
on Earth and on other planets. The discovery by Randall Hulet's group at Rice University
promises to improve the sensitivity of atom interferometers. The introduction to the
press release follows:
Breakthrough research on waves of ultra-cold atoms may lead to sophisticated atom
lasers that might eventually predict volcanic eruptions on Earth and map a probable
subsurface ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa.
The atoms were manipulated to form tidy bundles of waves, called solitons, which
retained their shape and strength. They were created in a laboratory at Rice University,
Houston, under a grant from NASA's Biological and Physical Research Program through the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Normally, when a wave forms -- whether in water, light or atoms -- it tends to spread
out as it travels. Not so with a soliton wave. It maintains its perfect shape without
spreading. In the Rice University research, the solitons are localized bundles of atom
waves.
Atom-wave solitons could be used in advanced lasers, which use atoms instead of light
photons. Dr. Randall Hulet, the Rice University physics and astronomy professor who
led the research team, said atom lasers may have many applications, some not yet
envisioned.
Read more at: http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/general_info/OBPR-02-130.html.
ATOM RESEARCH MAY HELP DETECT VOLCANOES AND OCEANS
