Quantum Reap
Contrary to popular belief, Physics isn’t simply a geeks thang! Actually I was just kidding, it IS a geek thang! For the record, I do happen to think that geeks are great and contrary to popular belief they DO actually rule the world! Among those whose itch it is, the science of Physics is like the navman to understanding the behaviour of matter from the scale of sub-atomic particles to that of the Universe itself.
At an ‘on-this-planet’ level this also includes digital watches, fridges and cars, through to computers, communication systems, water supplies and electrical systems. Our modern life is built using the understanding of nature that Physics provides. Everyday examples of this include architecture, various fields of engineering, nursing, medicine and other health professions and agricultural science.
Here in New Zealand, “we are currently in an incredibly exciting period in physics. The technological advances of the last 20 years have had an enormous impact on all our lives and many of these advances rely on advances in physics. This is actually true of virtually all technological advances since the Industrial Revolution. Modern physics provides us with a framework for understanding and contributing to major advances in technology.
A Broad Discipline
Physics is a very broad discipline so it encompasses everything from building huge laser equipment to studying gravitational waves, creating tiny nano electronic devices that can act as transistors or sensors to measuring the behaviour of the upper atmosphere in order to understand global warming and to obtaining fundamental theoretical understandings of cosmology and sub-atomic physics. This is one BIG mamajama field.
In order to contribute to these advances, New Zealand physicists have attempted to understand why the world around us behaves the way it does. Newton’s understanding of forces, momentum and motion underpins much of our modern technology. More recent (early 19th century) understanding of heat, electricity and magnetism, waves, sound and of light continue to play a big role in modern industry.
Ashton Bradley Research
New Zealand born Physicist Ashton Bradley’s research into the behaviour of ultra-cold atoms is gaining international recognition for New Zealand cutting-edge science. Last year his work was published in the 16 October edition of the prestigious Scientific Journal ‘Nature’. Dr Bradley, most recently based at the University of Queensland is now a Research Fellow at the University of Otago’s Jack Dodd Centre for Quantum Technology.
The ‘Nature’ publication drew on more than a decade of theoretical work by Jack Dodd Centre Director Crispin Gardiner and Matthew Davis, now at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics at the University of Queensland. Co-author on this work was Ashton Bradley, a young New Zealand scientist who recently joined the Physics Department at the University of Otago. Ashton’s contribution as theoretician was an essential part of the combined experiment-theory impact of this piece of science, at the forefront of a very exciting field.
Their research group studied the properties of Bose-Einstein condensates, a novel state of matter predicted by Einstein more than eighty years ago. Bose-Einstein condensates are created when gas is cooled very suddenly to temperatures colder than outer space. Under these conditions, the atoms in the gas line up perfectly and develop bizarre, quantum properties. These properties are being explored by physicists around the world and New Zealand scientists are among the leaders in this highly-specialised field.
The Bose-Einstein Condensate
In plain speak, “the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate can be compared to the way condensation forms on a window–when warm, moist air from indoors hits a cold window surface, droplets of water (fluid) are formed. A Bose-Einstein condensate happens through a similar process but it occurs in a gas cooled to the very lowest temperatures ever reached anywhere in the universe! Stay with me, there’s more.
The resulting fluid droplet is then extra special because its motion, the way it flows, obeys the equations of quantum mechanics, the same equations that govern how electrons circulate inside an atom. The research described in this paper investigates the dramatic events that accompany the formation of this extra special droplet. Dramatic I say, because the formation of the droplet is often accompanied by the simultaneous formation of a vortex, a mini whirlpool (or tornado) within the droplet.
It’s a great example of how a young scientist returning to New Zealand can bring the spotlight of the world’s leading scientific endeavors to the homeland. The paper in ‘Nature’ reports major progress on understanding the creation of quantised vortices that occur in superfluids. In a nutshell, the work has relevance to understanding the creation of the universe and to the development of high precision instrumentation. No small feat! The work is a very significant achievement by a very young yet talented theoretical physicist who has recently returned to New Zealand.
Understanding The Behaviour of Matter
His work represents an important contribution to our understanding of the behaviour of matter in the new pure quantum states that have only recently been able to be created. He has built on foundation work of New Zealand physicists and has developed a powerful methodology that gives detailed understanding of these complex modern experiments. It’s a ‘good news’ story of reversing the brain drain with one of our brightest young New Zealanders.”
So where does one get an idea to become a physicist? I can’t imagine, not having considered it myself but you know the thing I most love about geeks, is that, you can find them in almost any field, anywhere, any time.
