Indian-origin physicist creates fifth state of matter at home amid lockdown

An India-origin scientist created the fifth state of matter while working from home during the coronavirus lockdown by using quantum technology. Dr Amruta Gadge, a physicist based in the UK, successfully created a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) at the facility of the University of Sussex while working remotely from her living room located two miles away.

Peter Krüger, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Sussex, said in a statement that researchers are extremely excited that they can continue to conduct experiments remotely during any possible future lockdowns. The achievement can be a major breakthrough for researchers in creating a blueprint for operating quantum technology in inaccessible environments. Scientists believe that it may be the first time that BEC was created remotely in a lab that did not have one earlier. 

“Enhancing the capabilities of remote lab control is relevant for research applications aimed at operating quantum technology in inaccessible environments such as space, underground, in a submarine, or in extreme climates,” said Krüger highlighting its wider implications.

The Univesity of Sussex release explained that a BEC consists of a cloud of hundreds of thousands of rubidium atoms cooled down to nanokelvin temperatures and the atoms take on a different property and behave as a single quantum object. It added that the quantum object has special properties that can sense very low magnetic fields.

“This requires accurate computer control of laser light, magnets and electric currents in microchips based on vigilant monitoring of environmental conditions in the lab while nobody is able to be there to check in person,” said Krüger.

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'Not as efficient'

Dr Gadge said in a statement that the research team was determined to keep the work going amidst lockdown and was exploring new ways of running our experiments remotely. Calling it a “massive team effort”, Dr Gadge expressed hope for establishing a skeleton crew back in the labs with social distancing measures in place as soon as it is safe to do so as the remote process was a lot slower.

“This is obviously not as efficient and way more laborious to do manually because I’ve not been able to do systematic scans or fix the instability like I could working in the lab,” she added.

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