Fifth state of matter
The fifth state of matter.
It is the state known as the Bose-Einstein condensate, near absolute zero (-273oC) where atoms become a single entity, with quantum properties, operating as a wave of matter.
Made it to one of the coldest places in the universe: a device aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Cold Autumn Lab (CAL) launched at the ISS in 2018.
This fifth state of matter is believed to contain crucial clues about phenomena such as dark energy, behind the accelerated expansion of the Universe, or gravitational waves.
Now scientists have achieved a lower temperature near absolute zero for the first time in history. The temperature was achieved using a quantum gas composed of potassium atoms. With a magnetic field modification, the temperature dropped a “few millionth from absolute zero.”We are familiarized with the four states of matter acknowledged so far: solid, liquid, gas and plasma. Who would have imagined a fifth state of matter, containing simultaneously two states? Within the diversity of crystallization forms or phases of water from liquid to solid ice (more than seventeen crystalline and several amorphous ice structure), appeared a new one: ionic oxygen crystal with ionic hydrogen (mainly protons) moving inside, like a fluid. It has been named ice XVIII, and it is both a new phase of water (because it depends on applied temperature and pressure) and a new state of matter (because it gathers both a solid and a fluid).
Crystals are formed by ionized atoms, such that the electrostatic forces between cations and ions keep the lattice solid. The common salt crystal has anions of Chlorine (Cl-) and cations of Sodium (Na+), is in solid state at room temperature, but the superionic crystal of water synthesized recently requires extremely high pressure and temperature to form, as it first has to ionize its atoms -breaking the water molecules-. In all other crystallization forms of ice water, the molecules remain; the ice forms precisely because of cold temperatures that freeze the system. But in this superionic experiments, high temperature (above 2000 kelvin) brakes the water molecules, and high pressure (above 100 gigapascals) densifies the system.
Read more in the article by Dr. Inés Urdaneta, Resonance Science Foundation Research ScientistIn 1924, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of a fifth state of matter following a paper written by Satyendra Nath Bose. This fifth state of matter was named Bose-Einstein Condensate (BECs), which is observed when atoms are cooled to near absolute zero temperatures. In BECs, the atoms become a single unit, wherein each atom behaves as a wave of matter.
Any attempt to study this state of matter on Earth is often to no avail, for even the smallest interaction could easily result in them heating. So much so that it's extremely difficult for scientists to discern this state longer than a few milliseconds. The earth’s gravity is also a bad influence on the magnetic fields used to keep these particles in position for observation, necessitating stronger magnetic fields which in turn require more energy.
However, thanks to the apparent weightlessness felt in space, the BEC state can be attained with considerably less amount of energy for longer periods of time, subsequently enabling more accurate experimentation. NASA scientists, stationed at the ISS, have recently disclosed their experimental results pertaining to BECs for the first time. These experiments could allow us to gain insight about dark energy, something which has perplexed cosmic enthusiasts for years.
