Abstract

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) has been observed in a dilute gas of sodium atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate consists of a macroscopic population of the ground state of the system and is a coherent state of matter. In an ideal gas, this phase transition is purely quantum statistical. The study of BEC in weakly interacting systems that can be controlled and observed with precision holds the promise of revealing new macroscopic quantum phenomena that can be understood from first principles. The study of BEC in such systems may also advance our understanding of superconductivity and superfluidity in more complex systems. Work aimed at achieving BEC in cold trapped atoms has been going on for a decade. Within a few months in 1995, three independent experiments succeeded in creating BEC in rubidium (JILA, Boulder), lithium (Rice, Houston), and, in our experiment, sodium.

© 1996 Optical Society of America