
Chu, along with two others on his team, shared the prestigious award in 1997, for a series of experiments that cooled gaseous atoms to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. In the mid 1980s the team shot six laser beams at each other between a pair of magnetic coils, capturing atoms in the center. This created what they called an "optical molasses," trapping the particles inside at speeds slow enough to study their structures. In normal room temperature, gas atoms are so energetic they zip around at speeds around 400 km/hr. Chu's team tricked the atoms to slow down to only about 25 cm/s, without freezing into a liquid or solid.
Since taking over the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2004, Chu has focused primarily on seeking alternative and green energy sources. Chu's nomination is promising because it shows a real focus on scientific research and development to address the nation’s energy issues. As the department's head, Chu will oversee the nation's energy policy as well as its nuclear reactors, nuclear weapons and an array of National Research Labs.
So it looks like the Department of Energy is taken care of, now if only we physicists can get a Department of Matter up and running as well.
Matter being a form of energy, there's no need for a separate department; Dr. Chu will just need to support an Undersecretary of Matter.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Mr. Chu's jurisdiction covers dark energy as well. Maybe if he had an evil twin...
ReplyDeleteOptical molasses generally occurs when there is no magnetic field present — this cools the atoms but does not confine them. The presence of the magnetic field (typically as a quadrupole field) allows for a restoring force that does the confinement, which is called a magneto-optic trap, or MOT.
ReplyDeleteRonald from http://www.physicsworks.ca says:
ReplyDeleteChu is the best thing ever happened in politics, they can't deny it anymore ....physics works!!