First observation of the hall effect in a Bose-Einstein condensate
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 06:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers have observed for the first time the Hall effect in a gas of ultracold atoms. The Hall effect is an important interaction of magnetic fields and electric current more commonly associated with metals and semiconductors. Variations on the Hall effect are used throughout engineering and physics with applications ranging from automobile ignition systems to fundamental measures of electricity. The new discovery could help scientists learn more about the physics of quantum phenomena such as superfluidity and the quantum Hall effect.