Matter Gallery

Bose-Einstein condensate simulation

Bose-Einstein condensate simulation. Computer simulation of vortices forming within a spinning Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). A BEC is a state of matter that can arise at very low temperatures. Atoms are trapped using laser beams and magnets, and supercooled almost to absolute zero. At these temperatures, the atoms all have the same quantum energy state, and are indistinguishable. They coalesce, behaving as if they were one single super atom. During the process, two laser beams are rotated rapidly around each other, causing a stirring action that generates vortices in the atom cluster and facilitates the formation of the condensate. This simulation helped to confirm that BEC's are superfluids - a kind of liquid/gas that flows without friction

© NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Lead ion collision C014/1793

Particle tracks from a lead ion collision seen by the CMS (compact muon solenoid) detector at CERN (the European particle physics laboratory) near Geneva, Switzerland. Before the collision the ions had been accelerated by the large hadron collider (LHC). The central tracking chamber (cylindrical) and muon chambers (red rectangles) of the detector are seen end-on in outline. The collision produced a number of unidentified particles (orange) and an upsilon meson. The upsilon meson is not seen, but is revealed through its decay products; a pair of muons (two longest red lines). The green lines show the energy deposited by the muons in the detector's muon chambers. The energies of the unidentified particles are measured by the electrochemical calorimeter (shorter red lines) and the hadron calorimeter (blue)

© CMS EXPERIMENT, CERN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Huntsmen and women watch the fox-hounds let out of

Huntsmen and women watch the fox-hounds let out of a pen before a hunt, 19th century. Facey Romford in green coat, and Lucy Somersville sidesaddle on her horse. The Loose Box door was opened, out came the hounds with a cry. Handcoloured steel engraving after an illustration by Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz) from Robert Smith Surtees Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds, Bradbury, Evans and Co. London, 1865

© Florilegius