Quantum Gases and Condensate Dynamics

Quantum gases, realised in ultracold atomic clouds and superfluid helium, exhibit collective behaviours governed by quantum statistics and interparticle interactions. In Bose–Einstein condensates, bosonic atoms coalesce into a single macroscopic wavefunction, yielding phase coherence, superfluidity and quantised vortices. Degenerate Fermi gases undergo pairing phenomena that interpolate between Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) superfluidity and Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC), with tunable interactions driving crossovers and topological transitions. Long-range dipolar forces, optical lattices and dynamical trapping potentials enrich the phase diagram, giving rise to supersolid density modulations, self-bound quantum droplets and non-equilibrium defect formation. Quantum fluctuations play a stabilising role beyond mean-field collapse, while tailored quenches reveal turbulence and analogue gravity signatures. These systems function as versatile quantum simulators for fundamental models in condensed matter and gravitational physics, with potential applications in precision metrology, quantum information processing and the exploration of novel dynamical regimes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated the stabilisation of a giant quantum vortex in superfluid helium, creating a compact core that carries thousands of circulation quanta and enabling the observation of wave–vortex bound states and ringdown signatures analogous to rotating curved spacetimes. Complementary work has realised the fractional Schrödinger equation in the temporal domain using femtosecond laser pulses confined in a programmable Lévy waveguide, revealing solitary, splitting and merging pulse dynamics alongside a fractional-phase protection effect, thus extending the landscape of accessible quantum dynamical phenomena.

Quantum Gases and Condensate Dynamics publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in quantum gases and condensate dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Bose–Einstein condensate: A phase of matter in which bosonic particles occupy the same ground quantum state, exhibiting macroscopic coherence.

Superfluid: A frictionless fluid phase characterised by the absence of viscosity and the support of quantised vortices.

Quantised vortex: A topological defect in a superfluid where circulation around the vortex core is constrained to integer multiples of a fundamental quantum.

BCS–BEC crossover: The continuous evolution from weakly bound fermion pairs in a Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superfluid to tightly bound bosonic molecules in a Bose–Einstein condensate.

Tan’s two-body contact: A universal parameter that quantifies short-range correlations in interacting quantum gases and governs high-momentum behaviour.

References

1. Rotating curved spacetime signatures from a giant quantum vortex. Nature (2024).
2. Experimental realisations of the fractional Schrödinger equation in the temporal domain. Nature Communications (2023).
3. Testing universality of Feynman-Tan relation in interacting Bose gases using high-order Bragg spectra. Light: Science & Applications (2023).
4. Evolution from Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer to Bose–Einstein Condensation in Two Dimensions: Crossovers and Topological Quantum Phase Transitions. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics (2024).