In a new study, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, (UCSB) have reported the discovery of a spin microemulsion in two-dimensional systems of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, shedding light on a novel phase transition marked by the loss of superfluidity, complex pseudospin textures, and the emergence of topological defects.
A Bose-Einstein (B-E) condensate is a state of matter that occurs at extremely low temperatures, where bosons, such as photons, become indistinguishable and behave as a single quantum entity, forming a superfluid or superconducting state.
B-E condensates can bose-einstein-condensates.html” title=”Investigating the Transition from Supersolid to Microemulsion in Spin-Orbit Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates”>exhibit unique quantum properties, such as a spin microemulsion. When the internal spin states of atoms in a B-E condensate are coupled to their motion, a unique phase called a spin microemulsion can emerge.
This phase involves atoms organizing themselves into patterns based on their spin states, similar to how microemulsions form in soft matter systems.
The concept of microemulsions is not new; they are typically found in synthetic soft matter systems. These phases emerge when two immiscible species (like oil and water) form enriched domains while a third minority component stabilizes their interfaces, like a surfactant.
2023-11-07 03:41:07
Link from phys.org