Tue April 9, 2013 4:00 pm
Free-space supersolids in ultracold gases
Location:Jefferson-250
A supersolid combines the seemingly antithetical properties of crystalline order and superfluidity, where the same particles that self-assemble into a rigid crystal can flow through the system without dissipation. More than fifty years after its conjecture by Gross and later by Andreev, Lifshitz and Chester (ALC) this enigmatic phase of matter continues to elude experimental verification. In recent years, promising observations in pressurized Helium have intensified experimental and theoretical activity. Yet, a physical system that unambiguously displays supersolidity has not been found thus far, and the mere existence of free-space supersolidity in any type of quantum solid remains an open question.