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Nature 441, 1053-1054 (29 June 2006) | doi:10.1038/4411053a; Published online 28 June 2006

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Quantum physics: Atomic gas in flatland

Tilman Esslinger1 & Gianni Blatter1

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The observation of Bose–Einstein condensation in an atomic gas was a seminal result. Two-dimensional gases are more complex, and an intriguing interference experiment has exposed a different superfluid transition.

Atomic quantum gases are unique systems for investigating elementary concepts in many-particle physics. The most prominent example is Bose–Einstein condensation — the formation of a gaseous superfluid through the collapse of an ensemble of atoms into a single quantum state — which was first observed in an ultracold gas of rubidium atoms1.

  1. Tilman Esslinger and Gianni Blatter are in the Department of Physics, ETH-Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
    Email: esslinger@phys.ethz.ch;
    Email: blatterj@itp.phys.ethz.ch

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