Is the Wave Function of a Super Cold Gas Different than at Higher Temperatures?

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SUMMARY

The wave function of a super cold gas, such as hydrogen, significantly differs from that of a gas at higher temperatures due to the formation of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). In a BEC, a dilute gas of weakly interacting bosons is cooled to temperatures near absolute zero, resulting in a large fraction of bosons occupying the lowest quantum state. This phenomenon leads to observable quantum effects on a macroscopic scale, particularly affecting the behavior of individual particles like lone electrons within the gas.

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  • Understanding of Bose–Einstein condensates (BEC)
  • Knowledge of quantum mechanics principles
  • Familiarity with the behavior of bosons
  • Basic concepts of thermodynamics and temperature effects on matter
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Consider a super cold gas tube (of, say, hydrogen), is the wave function of the gas different than at a higher temperature? How about for a lone electron within the gas?
 
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A Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter of a dilute gas of weakly interacting bosons confined in an external potential and cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero (0 K or −273.15 °C[1]). Under such conditions, a large fraction of the bosons occupy the lowest quantum state of the external potential, at which point quantum effects become apparent on a macroscopic scale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose_einstein_condensate"
 
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