The coldest place in Ireland

Abstract

Did you know that the Quantum Optics Laboratory in Tyndall National Institute is the coldest place in Ireland? The physicists in this laboratory use lasers to push atoms in such a way as to slow them down. When an atom gets slowed down, its temperature also decreases. This technique is called laser cooling and was first demonstrated in 1978 by Wineland, Drullinger and Walls. Physicists use the Kelvin (K) scale to measure temperatures which is an extension of the degree Celsius scale down to absolute zero, the lowest temperature that can theoretically be reached. Absolute zero Kelvin represents a complete absence of heat energy. While we may have thought our weather couldn’t get much colder last winter here in Ireland, cold atoms are unimaginably chilled, at nearly absolute zero Kelvin, or -273 °Celsius. The temperature of an atom is related to how fast it’s moving. The air we are breathing ...