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A superheated Bose-condensed gas

Nature Physics volume 9, pages 271–274 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Our understanding of various states of matter usually relies on the assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium. However, the transitions between different phases of matter can be strongly affected by non-equilibrium phenomena. Here we demonstrate and explain an example of non-equilibrium stalling of a continuous, second-order phase transition. We create a superheated atomic Bose gas, in which a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) persists above the equilibrium critical temperature1,2, Tc, if its coupling to the surrounding thermal bath is reduced by tuning interatomic interactions. For vanishing interactions the BEC persists in the superheated regime for a minute. However, if strong interactions are suddenly turned on, it rapidly boils away. Our observations can be understood within a two-fluid picture, treating the condensed and thermal components of the gas as separate equilibrium systems with a tunable inter-component coupling. We experimentally reconstruct a non-equilibrium phase diagram of our gas, and theoretically reproduce its main features.

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Figure 1: Creating and understanding a superheated Bose-condensed gas.
Figure 2: Equilibrium versus non-equilibrium BEC decay.
Figure 3: Quenching the superheated Bose-condensed gas.
Figure 4: Limits of superheating.

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Change history

  • 28 March 2013

    In the version of this Letter originally published online, in Fig. 3, the orange shading indicating the superheated region should have extended to the right-hand edge of the figure. This error has now been corrected in all versions of the Letter.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Beattie and S. Moulder for experimental assistance. This work was supported by EPSRC (Grant No. EP/K003615/1), the Royal Society, AFOSR, ARO and DARPA OLE.

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Author notes

  1. Alexander L. Gaunt and Richard J. Fletcher: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK

    Alexander L. Gaunt, Richard J. Fletcher, Robert P. Smith & Zoran Hadzibabic

Authors
  1. Alexander L. Gaunt
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  2. Richard J. Fletcher
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  3. Robert P. Smith
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  4. Zoran Hadzibabic
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All authors contributed extensively to this work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert P. Smith.

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Gaunt, A., Fletcher, R., Smith, R. et al. A superheated Bose-condensed gas. Nature Phys 9, 271–274 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2587

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