News

On July 3, 2024, Colorado Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo delved into the quantum realm during her first official visit to ]JILA, a joint institute established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder. 

JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder's Department of Physics proudly announce two 2024 Physics Department Teaching Award recipients: JILA Fellow and NIST Fellow and Professor Eric Cornell and JILA Fellow and  Professor John Bohn. These awards recognize their exceptional dedication to teaching and their profound impact on students at different levels of their academic journey.

Since its inception in 1962, JILA has been a vital part of the University of Colorado’s physics research department, leading the way in the science of precision measurement while also teaching the next generation of physicists. Congressman Neguse recently released an update on funds for JILA provided by the Community Project Funding (PCF) status, saying: “Colorado has become world-renowned for its research ecosystem, and I could not be more excited that we’ve secured funding to help support the development of these groundbreaking labs in Colorado’s Second District. Thanks to this funding, JILA researchers and scientists will be able to complete much needed renovations to their lab—equipping this facility with the tools needed to remain a leader in their field.”

Critics agree: this book extends from the front cover all the way to the back!

“This is a book that, unfortunately, I cannot un-read.”
     - Physics Yesterday

They always say, the fun in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is the way it wiggles.  In a new study, Eli Halperin has followed the wiggles of a BEC composed of dysprosium atoms that are little magnets.

We are pleased to report that our article, "Prospects for Bose-Einstein Condensation in Ultracold Molecules", Laser Physics 13, 1091 (2003), remains in a 30,996-way tie for the least-cited physics paper of all time!

Balls of clay may stick to each other when they collide. This is because the original energy they had before the collision gets so mixed up in heating the clay that the balls have none left to separate. Molecules, particularly small ones, don't generally act this way, since there are not many places for the energy to disappear into.

It is widely known that mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC's) can "phase separate" under circumstances where the mutual repulsion of the two BEC's overcomes their self-repulsion. Typically, one BEC goes to one side of the enclosure, and the other goes to the other side. Now, along with Chris Ticknor and Eddy Timmermans, Ryan Wilson has expanded this notion to include dipolar BEC's that possess a roton instability.