Shu Nagata, University of Chicago | Transition from Atomic to Molecular Bose-Einstein Condensate

From left to right, we can convert a cesium atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) into a molecular one which is composed of diatomic molecules. This occurs in the quantum degenerate regime meaning both types of matter can be classified as macroscopic wave functions which is a signature of BECs. BECs are one of the coldest pieces of matter in the universe and our BECs are typically at a temperature of 10nK. Ultracold molecules are one of the hottest research topics in quantum science and our work demonstrates the creation of molecular BECs in the quantum degenerate regime which is not so easily achieved. Contributors: Zhendong Zhang, Liangchao Chen, Kai-Xuan Yao, Shu Nagata, Cheng Chin