Ebb and flow of superfluids: Bose-Einstein condensates far from equilibrium (2010-2014)
Abstract
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are minuscule clouds of millions of atoms that have coalesced into a clean and controllable droplet of quantum superfluid. BECs share many features of superconductors: they flow without resistance and only rotate by forming tiny quantum tornadoes. This proposal will develop a new theory needed to describe the dynamics of how BECs form, decay, and reach steady-state. We will also design and perform experiments to test and refine our theoretical predictions. Understanding the dynamics of BECs will provide insights to other important problems: the properties of turbulence in fluids, the nature of condensates in semiconductors, and how phase transitions occur and their relation to the birth of the universe.
