Ultracold Quantum Gases Group

The Ultracold Quantum Gases Group studies ultracold gases near Absolute Zero temperature. At temperatures a million times colder than interstellar space, and at densities a million times thinner than air, quantum mechanics takes center stage: Atoms behave as waves, they interfere like laser light, and form novel states of matter, such as Bose-Einstein condensates and fermionic superfluids. In such a Fermi gas, atoms team up in pairs that can flow without friction. This has analogies to electron pairs in a superconductor that transport current without resistance. In contrast to bulk materials, we can freely tune the interaction between atoms and, for example, explore the crossover from a Bose-Einstein condensate of tightly bound molecules to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid of long-range fermion pairs. The goal is to use these gases as model systems for strongly interacting quantum matter, from High-Tc superconductors to Neutron Stars.

The group studies strongly interacting mixtures of fermionic atoms, atoms with half-integer spin. In these novel systems we can realize superfluids of fermion pairs and other paradigms of many-body physics. The goal is to improve our understanding of strongly correlated systems, such as hightemperature superconductors, colossal magnetoresistive materials and heavy fermions.