SIGNIFICANT EVENTS - SCIENCE EVENTS
12/05/03

The Press Continues to Follow Developments in Degenerate Fermion Research

The New York Times has added to the fanfare celebrating research in the NASA fundamental physics program. In a feature article by Kenneth Chang on November 25, the accomplishment of forming a BEC with diatomic molecules is reported. The article points to a research paper, published in the journal Nature on Nov. 28 by PI Deborah Jin and her team at the University of Colorado at Boulder, that reports the direct observation of a molecular BEC created solely by adjusting the interaction strength between ultracold atoms in a dilute gas.

The Times article quotes another Fundamental Physics PI: "The importance of this work is in what's to come," Dr. Randall G. Hulet, a professor of physics at Rice University in Houston, said. "This is going to open up new directions in which to explore phenomena like superconductivity, but in much simpler, easier-to-understand systems."