The Race to Absolute Zero: A Journey Through Cold Science

Over the last hundred years, cold technology has revolutionized various aspects of our lives, from supermarkets with refrigeration to hospitals with MRI machines and liquid oxygen. This technology has enabled us to explore outer space and the depths of our brain, paving the way for new ultra-cold technology like quantum computers and high-speed networks.

In the late 19th century, physicists embarked on a high-stakes race towards absolute zero, the ultimate extreme of cold at minus 273 degrees Celsius. This pursuit continues today, leading to discoveries in a quantum world where fluids defy gravity and electricity flows without resistance.

A century ago, Antarctic explorers were not only pushing towards the South Pole but also engaging in a scientific endeavor to reach absolute zero, the coldest point in the universe at minus 273 degrees Celsius. Achieving this required liquefying gases to approach a state where atoms nearly stop moving due to the absence of thermal energy.

James Dewar, a Scottish scientist, played a significant role in the race towards absolute zero. He conducted experiments with super cold temperatures, showcasing the wonders of science to the public. Dewar's dream was to follow in the footsteps of Michael Faraday and achieve groundbreaking discoveries in the properties of matter.

Michael Faraday's experiments with liquefying gases laid the foundation for understanding the behavior of gases under pressure. It was not until 1873 that Van der Waals explained why certain gases like oxygen and nitrogen could not be liquefied without cooling them below a critical temperature. This breakthrough paved the way for liquefying these 'permanent gases' and reaching new low temperatures.

James Dewar and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes were key competitors in the race towards extreme cold. While Dewar aimed to be the first to liquefy hydrogen and achieve a triumph of science, Kamerlingh Onnes, with his radical approach and industrial-scale lab in Leiden, posed a formidable challenge. Their rivalry reflected differing scientific philosophies and approaches to cold research.

Later, Dewar set up a technical training school that still exists today, showcasing his commitment to education and knowledge dissemination.

Duerr and Onnes had contrasting approaches to their work; Duerr was secretive, hiding apparatus parts before lectures, while Onnes openly shared lab progress in a monthly journal.

Dewar believed in self-reliance and constructing tools for exploration, while Onnes focused on sharing progress openly, reflecting a tortoise-and-hare dynamic in their approaches.

Kamelionis had a different scientific approach, emphasizing theory-based constructions before embarking on explorations, influenced by Vanderwaals' theory to solve gas exploration problems.

Despite differing proposals, Kamelionis, Onnes, and Dewar utilized a similar step-by-step process in their efforts to explore gold, using a series of gases at varying temperatures and pressures to achieve results.

The experimentation process involved applying pressure to the first gas, transferring it through a series of different gases at decreasing temperatures, creating a cascading effect of pressure and temperature changes for each subsequent gas.

In the gas operation process, gases are used to regulate the temperature of the next gas, with each gas being utilized to function adequately. The final step involves subjecting the gas material to immense pressure, specifically 180 million pressure units, followed by a sudden release through a valve. This results in a significant decrease in temperature, lowering the gas material to a liquefied state at -252 degrees, just 21 degrees above absolute zero.

One of the challenges faced was the need to rapidly increase the temperature to a very high level, requiring substantial financial resources and effort. Simultaneously, the pressures involved were extremely high, posing risks to the evolution of the process. The director navigated these challenges with remarkable skill and determination.

The director demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, effectively managing the temperature fluctuations. Despite assistants occasionally losing track of the process details, the director meticulously documented the evolution, emphasizing its significance over the assistants' contributions.

In Lidan, Anna faced challenges with negative supervisors who were deeply concerned. The supervisors' anxiety and behavior towards Anna reflected a tense and stressful environment.

Dwyer, the employer, faced protests from workers due to delays in progress. Anna's name was used by Dwyer to write a number of protests, causing Lidan, an employee, to remain closed for two years. Anna had to wait for a long time while Dwyer was already starting covert material, and Anna couldn't begin the work. This led to a series of protests in Anna's name for two years.

Anna filed a number of protests in her name for two years.

Duer also filed a number of protests in Anna's name for two years.

Anna continued to file protests in her name for two years.

Anna wrote a number of protests in his own name for two years.

In the summer of 1908, Honest called his chief assistant Flim to help with liquefying helium. They gathered the team at the lab at 5:45 on the morning of July 10th to begin the experiment.

After intense work in Sweden, Camerling Honest successfully liquefied helium at minus 268 degrees Celsius, just 5 degrees above absolute zero, a monumental achievement that eventually earned him the Nobel Prize.

Upon hearing he lost the race to liquefy helium, James Dewar expressed resentment towards Camerling Honest and berated his assistant Lennox. Lennox, fed up with Dewar's behavior, left the Royal Institution, vowing never to return until Dewar passed away, effectively ending Dewar's low-temperature research.

In Leiden, Onnes' team observed the abrupt disappearance of electrical resistance in mercury at four degrees above absolute zero, leading to the discovery of superconductivity. Onnes coined the term 'superconductivity' to describe this phenomenon.

Despite being discovered in 1911, the cause of superconductivity remained a mystery for four decades, with various physicists proposing their theories but failing to solve it.

Liquid helium transformed into a superfluid at two degrees above absolute zero, displaying unique properties like zero viscosity. Superfluid helium exhibited behaviors such as leaking through porous containers and defying gravity, leading to the term 'superflow.'

In the 1920s, quantum theory emerged as a promising framework to explain gravity, superconductivity, and superfluidity. Quantum theory proposed that atoms could behave as both particles and waves simultaneously, challenging traditional concepts and requiring radical new theories for understanding.

In 1995, a new state of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate, was theorized to exist following quantum rules. This condensate, neither solid, liquid, nor gas, was named after its discoverers, Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein. It had never been observed in nature before.

Matter can exist in various states such as gas, liquid, and solid. At high temperatures, atoms form gases, which can then transition to liquids and solids as they are cooled. However, under specific conditions at extremely low temperatures, atoms undergo a unique transformation.

At very low temperatures, atoms undergo an identity crisis where their quantum mechanical properties become significant. They start displaying wave-like properties instead of behaving as individual particles. As temperatures decrease further, these wave packets overlap, leading to a Bose-Einstein condensate where atoms lose their individual identities and behave as a single quantum system.

Dan Kleppner and Tom Greytak from MIT embarked on creating a Bose-Einstein condensate in hydrogen. Despite the challenges faced due to the complexity of their methods, they were optimistic about hydrogen's suitability for achieving the condensation.

Physicists in Boulder, Colorado, shifted their focus from lighter atoms like hydrogen to heavier metallic atoms such as rubidium and cesium for creating a Bose-Einstein condensate. This change in approach aimed to reach closer to absolute zero temperatures for condensation.

Cornell and Wyman proposed using a laser beam to cool atoms, a technique previously attempted at MIT. By tuning lasers to the same frequency as atoms traveling at specific speeds, they could slow down and cool the atoms. This laser cooling method had the potential to reduce gas temperatures to within a few millionths of a degree of absolute zero.

In the early 1990s, a new arrangement of laser beams was discovered at MIT that could cool atoms to higher densities, leading to a breakthrough in atom cooling technology. This advancement sparked excitement and discussions about the possibility of achieving Bose-Einstein condensation with higher density atoms.

Following the breakthrough in atom cooling, all resources in Ketterle's lab were directed towards creating a Bose-Einstein condensate in sodium atoms. The lab utilized an atomic beam oven to heat metallic sodium, aiming to achieve condensation by cooling the sodium vapor to extremely low temperatures.

MIT, Boulder, and other labs were in a race to achieve Bose-Einstein condensate. MIT focused on sophisticated lasers, while Carl Wyman's approach was 'small is beautiful,' using lasers from old fax machines. The Boulder group aimed to beat MIT by being fast and flexible, trying different magnetic traps and cooling techniques.

Despite competition, there was a sense of friendly rivalry between the Boulder group and MIT. Both groups used magnetic trapping and lasers to cool atoms, but needed evaporative cooling for the final push towards absolute zero.

The race to produce the Bose-Einstein condensate was intensifying, with Eric Cornell and others working round the clock. In June 1995, the Boulder Group was aware of MIT and other labs also close to achieving the first condensate.

To avoid interruptions, the Boulder Group kept working when senior dignitaries visited, leaving the lights off and voices down. This unconventional approach surprised the visitors, highlighting the intense focus on achieving the Bose-Einstein condensate.

On June 5th, 1995, the Boulder Group successfully created a Bose-Einstein condensate, a milestone in physics. The condensate was carefully verified to ensure its authenticity, marking a significant breakthrough in achieving ultra-cold temperatures.

Wyman and Cornell achieved a pure Bose-Einstein condensate at 170 billionths of a degree above absolute zero, using just 3,000 atoms of rubidium. This marked one of the first instances of Bose-Einstein condensation in the universe, showcasing the extreme cold temperatures required for this phenomenon.

Bose-Einstein condensation, a groundbreaking phenomenon, occurred just a pencil lead's thickness away from absolute zero. Following the success of the Boulder Group, Wolfgang Ketterle achieved a larger condensate from half a million sodium atoms, leading to a new state of matter where wave functions overlapped. This breakthrough in quantum mechanics was visible to the naked eye, earning Cornell, Ketterle, and Wyman the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2001.

The Nobel Prize ceremony holds significant meaning, as it commemorates achievements and individuals. Eric's memorable mishap of forgetting to bow to the king during the ceremony highlighted a protocol breakdown. Despite rigorous rehearsals, the mistake occurred, leading to a humorous yet unforgettable moment. The Nobel Prize announcement, received at 5:30 in the morning, brought a mix of tiredness and pride, emphasizing recognition for MIT, collaborators, and oneself.

The moment of winning the Nobel Prize, marked by a 5:30 am phone call, evoked a sense of pride and accomplishment. The recognition not only brought pride for MIT and collaborators but also validated years of hard work and dedication. The emotional impact of receiving such an esteemed award was liberating and a testament to the persistence and tenacity required in scientific pursuits.

After two decades of perseverance, Dan Kleppner achieved success in obtaining a condensate in hydrogen in 1998. The moment of success was met with delight and happiness among the team, who had dedicated years to the endeavor. The emotional significance of the achievement was profound, reflecting the patience, frustration, and tenacity required for such a breakthrough.

The realization of Einstein's dream through the creation of condensate marked the end of an extraordinary decade in physics for the pioneers. With this achievement, a new challenge emerged - determining the practical applications of condensates. Lena Howe's innovative idea at Harvard to slow down light using a condensate sparked further exploration into the potential uses of this new state of matter.

Lena Howe's experiment involved creating a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate to slow down light. By firing a light pulse into the condensate, the speed of light reduced significantly, from 186,000 miles per second to the pace of a bicycle. This compression of light pulses allowed for the storage of information without loss, hinting at future applications in information storage and quantum computing.

Ultra-cold atoms hold promise for storing and processing information, with current efforts focusing on developing prototype quantum computers. The potential to engineer atoms for computing purposes opens up new possibilities in the field of quantum mechanics. The pursuit of quantum computers is driven not only by functionality but also by the sheer excitement and possibility of achieving such a feat.

Quantum computing operates differently from classical computing, where a qubit can exist as both a zero and one simultaneously, enabling parallel computations. This unique feature allows quantum computers to perform multiple computations at the same time, unlike traditional computers limited by circuits and heat.

Quantum computing holds promise in predicting complex quantum interactions for drug development and solving encryption problems for Internet security. Super-cooled quantum devices are already mapping brain activity, showcasing the potential for revolutionary advancements in various fields.

Scientists have embarked on a remarkable journey towards absolute zero, exploring unknown territories beyond Earth's confines. The descent towards absolute zero involves ultra-cold refrigeration techniques, such as laser cooling and magnetic cooling, reaching temperatures as low as 100 picoKelvin, a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.

Achieving absolute zero is a formidable challenge due to the diminishing returns in extracting heat as temperatures approach absolute zero. The process becomes increasingly difficult and time-consuming, with the potential need for an apparatus the size of the universe. While absolute zero may be unattainable, the pursuit has unveiled fundamental insights into matter.

The future of scientific exploration may lie in the conquest of cold, with the mastery of heat defining our past and the pursuit of extreme cold revealing the most fundamental secrets of matter. As researchers delve deeper into the realm of cold science, new possibilities and discoveries emerge, shaping the trajectory of scientific advancement.

For further exploration into the concepts of absolute zero and quantum computing, viewers can visit NOVA's Absolute Zero website to engage in interactive experiences and educational content. To access the program or related materials, individuals can contact WGBH Boston Video or visit the NOVA Productions website for more information.