Posted on August 8, 2015 · Posted in AFBSF
Randy Hulet

Randy Hulet

November 2014: Randall Hulet, Ph.D., Fayez Sarofim Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University in Houston, TX and Boris Malomed, Ph.D., Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University study an extreme form of matter – an atomic gas cooled to the lowest temperatures in the universe. Under these conditions, a gas of atoms will form a collective state, a Bose-Einstein condensate, in which every atom is indistinguishable from every other – they essentially move in lockstep. Their research explores how two such objects interact and interfere with one another.

Said Hulet, “The BSF funded work explores using matter-wave solitons for interferometry. Our matter-wave solitons are a gas of atoms cooled to a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero (a few nano-Kelvin). These objects can propagate as localized packets of waves along a one-dimensional guide. In the article, we addressed what happens when the packets collide with one another.”

“Boris Malomed is an expert on the theory of solitons and other localized waves,” continued Hulet. “Since I am an experimental physicist, we each bring complementary skills and knowledge to the project. For me, the benefit of our collaboration is to have the opportunity to consult with an expert on the complex theory of solitons, with someone who is very familiar with our experimental capabilities.”

Read more about their work together:

Controlled Environments
NanoTech