Quantum gas free fall experiment creates coldest temperature ever recorded
Physicists in Germany have produced the coldest temperature ever recorded – a chilly 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero. The strange experiment involved dropping a quantum gas, and switching a magnetic field on and off to bring its atoms to an almost complete standstill.
Measured as -273.15 °C (-459.67 °F), absolute zero is the coldest temperature possible on the thermodynamic scale, representing the point where there’s no atomic motion or heat at all. However, it’s impossible for scientists to ever reach that mark, since we can’t ever remove all the kinetic energy from the atoms in a system.
But scientists consistently come pretty close – a few years ago, a Harvard team studied the coldest-ever chemical reaction at 500 nanoKelvin, or 500 millionths of a degree above absolute zero. And the Cold Atom Lab onboard the International Space Station has conducted experiments at just 100 nanoKelvin.
But those temperatures are balmy compared to those achieved in the new study. A German team has now recorded an effective temperature of just 38 picoKelvin, or 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero.
