Physicists at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have announced the creation of an atomic gas in the laboratory that is the first to demonstrate temperatures below absolute zero. The research was published in the journal Science on Jan. 4, 2103.
Absolute zero is minus 273 degrees Celsius or zero degrees Kelvin.
The minimum of temperature is achieved by taking the gas to the upper limits of both kinetic and potential energy. At this extreme a temperature of minus a few billionths of a Kelvin degree was achieved.
The system is stable at this state and promises several unique never before seen potentials in application and theory.
The potentials include the creation of heat engines such as combustion engines with an efficiency of more than 100 percent and the examination of the nature of dark matter.
This is the first demonstration that temperatures below absolute zero are possible.
The apparent incongruities that such temperatures occur at the highest possible energy levels in a gaseous system have been previously postulated theoretically but this is the first time theory has been made a reality.
The research was reviewed at the Alpha Galileo website the date of publication.
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