Researchers Have Obtained a Temperature Lower Than Absolute Zero!

Until now, the so called absolute zero was considered the lowest temperature that can be achieved by particles. With the results from the latest studies, however, a couple of researchers have indicated that even lower temperatures can be obtained. These results are very successful and open new doors and opportunities for scientists, especially since they could lead to the development of brand new technologies, very efficient. Several mysteries such as dark energy could eventually be solved, as well as various other questions about the universe. What many people do not know is the temperature of an object is actually responsible for measuring the speed of its atoms. In fact, the colder an object is, the slower its atoms are. At zero degrees Kelvin, the equivalent of -273.15 degrees Celsius, it is known that atoms stop moving. Therefore, scientists have believed for a long time that there is no temperature lower than this.

In order to understand how negative temperatures actually work, scientists often use a temperature scale. In the case of positive temperatures, atoms tend to be associated with lower energy states, forming a pattern commonly known as the “Boltzmann distribution”. As the atoms of an object are more and more heated, higher energy levels are achieved. In the case of the absolute zero temperature, atoms are in their lowest state in terms of energy. At negative temperatures, objects start to behave strangely, as many scientists would expect. As a concrete example, the energy that flows from objects exposed at high positive temperatures is very different to the one that comes from low positive temperatures. In other words, hotter objects get colder and cold objects get hotter until a common temperature is reached. Scientists have used this logic to come to the conclusion that negative temperature objects are most of the times hotter than the positive ones.

Entropy is the main cause of another strange consequence of this experiment. When energy is released by objects with a positive temperature level the entropy around them is also increased, which often leads to the objects behaving erratically. On the other hand, when in contact with negative temperatures, objects absorb entropy. In order to generate temperatures that are lower than the already known absolute zero, scientists have worked on the creation of a special system, limiting the atoms in terms of the energy they can have. 100,000 atoms were cooled as part of the first stage of the process, at a temperature of several positive nanokelvins. Vacuum rooms were used to cool the atoms, which were isolated from any external influence. Dr Schneider said the temperatures obtained after this experiment are expressed in negative nanokelvins. Temperatures usually depend mainly on how much atoms are moving, but also on their kinetic energy. The massive network of laser beams was used to create bright light atoms that could move, while holding a very limited energy. It was shown that temperature also depends on how much potential for energy atoms have and how much energy the interaction between them produces.