Discoveries about cold atoms: a thunderclap for physicists
The cooling of matter by light is without doubt one of the most paradoxical applications of lasers. While lasers are traditionally associated with the idea of heat, they also enable the lowest temperatures ever measured to be reached. Laser-cooled gases of atoms form a "quantum matter" with properties radically different from those of ordinary fluidsfrom ordinary fluids. Dramatically improving the precision of time measurement, fundamental studies of the infinitely large and infinitely small, superfluidity and superconductivity of matter: these cold atoms are the basis of a new metrology of time and space, with applications in fields as diverse as navigation, telecommunications and geophysics.
