Description:

A series of three false-color images of a gas of ultra-cold Rubidium atoms at temperatures of (left to right) 400, 200, and 50 nanoKelvins (nK), show the emergence of a Bose-Einstein condensate (or BEC), a new macroscopic state with unique and fascinating properties. At 400 nK (very near absolute zero temperatures), the atoms behave like a conventional gas, with a smooth distribution of high and low energy atoms. At 200 nK, the BEC begins to appear in the form of a significant fraction of near-zero energy atoms, shown as a peak in the center of the image. The skirt surrounding the peak is the remaining noncondensed atoms. By 50 nK, the noncondensed fraction has all but vanished, leaving about three thousand atoms in a single macroscopically occupied wavefunction--the Bose-Einstein condensate. The images are about 200 micrometers on a side.
 

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