Exploring the Cosmos Through Ultra-Cold Atom Bubbles

Since we cannot directly access the processes that took place immediately after the Big Bang, new approaches are opened with ultracold atoms.

The birth of the bubble occurs when ultracold atoms, like small magnets prepared in the initial more energetic blue state (false vacuum), decay into the red state (true vacuum). [Credits: Alessandro Zenesini, Giacomo Lamporesi]

Ultra-Cold Atom Bubbles Shed Light on Quantum Void and the Universe

In the ultra-cold atom laboratory at the Pitaevskii Center for Bose-Einstein Condensation in Trento, a breakthrough has occurred, unraveling the mysteries of our universe. An innovative study, a collaboration between the National Institute of Optics of the National Research Council (Cnr), the Department of Physics at the University of Trento, the National Center of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Tifpa), and the University of Newcastle, has illuminated the mechanisms determining the stability of the cosmos. The results, recently published in the prestigious Nature Physics journal, open new avenues for understanding phenomena within the quantum void.

Quantum Void and Universe Stability

Modern physics teaches us that our universe is an intricate product of interactions between particles and fields, including the electromagnetic field. An intriguing theory is that of the “false vacuum,” a state of partial stability characterized by an energy level not corresponding to the absolute minimum…