BEC Full Form

What is the full form of BEC?

The full form of BEC is Bose-Einstein Condensate. BEC is defined as the state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons which is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero. Superfluids and superconductors are the two main materials which contain BEC. Scientists have researched that this state of matter which is known as Bose-Einstein Condensate is useful as a quantum simulator for investigating particles which have been predicted to exist but are difficult to observe or create directly. Superfluids (Helium-4), a gas of Rubidium atoms and quasiparticles are examples of Bose-Einstein Condensate.

This Story also Contains

1. What is the full form of BEC?
2. History of BEC
3. States of Matter
4. What is Bose-Einstein Condensate?
5. Characteristics of Bosons
6. BEC in International Space Station (ISS)
7. Importance of BEC in Scientific Studies

History of BEC

Indian Mathematician and Physicist Satyendra Nath Bose did some calculations for the existence of a fifth state of matter In 1920. Based on his calculations, Albert Einstein predicted the fifth state of matter which is known as Bose-Einstein Condensate. Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein were the creators of BEC and hence the name of this state is based on their name, which is Bose-Einstein Condensate. The first gaseous condensate was produced in 1995 by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman. They produced this condensate with the group of Rubidium atoms and they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for achieving BEC.

States of Matter

In our daily life, we generally interact with three states of matter which are solid, liquid and gas. The fourth state of matter is plasma which is a high energy state and it occurs in high energy processes like during lightning or at the core of a star. The fifth state of matter is Bose-Einstein Condensate which occurs at temperatures that are near absolute zero or zero Kelvin. Bose-Einstein Condensate is one of the best ways to see the effects of Quantum Mechanics on a macroscopic scale.

What is Bose-Einstein Condensate?

The word condensate is related to the process of condensation. When we cool a gas, gas particles start to lose energy and they come together. They condense into a liquid state. This process is known as condensation under normal temperature ranges. In general, we can say that the process by which water vapour changes into liquid on cooling is known as condensation. This same thing happens with the Bose-Einstein Condensate but it happens with super low temperatures.

Each atom has its own energy in a gaseous state and is able to move freely. When we take bosons, they are allowed to have the same energy at the same time. When the gas is cooled down, the energy of the atoms decreases. Now, the atoms will behave as waves because of their quantum nature. At low temperatures, the size of the waves becomes larger than the average distance between two atoms. At this low temperature, all the bosons are able to be at the same energy in the same quantum state. So, they all form a single collective quantum wave called a Bose-Einstein Condensate.

In other words, we can say that at low densities, when a gas of bosons is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero, these bosons lose their identity and they behave like a single super-atom. So, Bose-Einstein Condensate is a state of affairs made up of weakly interacting bosons at very near absolute zero temperatures. The interesting fact is that plasmas have super hot and super excited atoms, while the atoms of BEC are totally opposite. BEC has super unexcited and super cold atoms.

Characteristics of Bosons

The following are the few characteristics of bosons:

• Bosons are those particles that have an integral spin number (0,1,2…) and they do not obey the Pauli exclusion principle.

• The properties of bosons are described by the Bose-Einstein Statistics.

• They contain an even number of nucleons and elementary bosons carry no electric charge.

• They are made up of small bundles of light and some bosons are force carriers.

BEC in International Space Station (ISS)

NASA launched a cold atom lab in the international space station (ISS) in 2018. The creation of Bose-Einstein Condensate on the international space station (ISS) will make the study of its properties easier. It was observed that condensates in the microgravity of the international space station (ISS) can be observed and measured longer than that on the Earth. On Earth, observation is possible only for ten milliseconds. The experiments on the international space station (ISS) will help us in

• test of general relativity

• searches for dark energy and gravitational waves

• better navigation of spacecraft

It will also help us in prospecting for subsurface minerals on the moon and other planetary objects.

Importance of BEC in Scientific Studies

BEC is related to two remarkable low-temperature phenomena. The first one is superfluidity in which the Bose-Einstein Condensate flows with zero friction and the second is superconductivity in which the electrons move through a material with zero electrical resistance.