I often get enthusiastic about Bose Einstein condensates, fascinating materials where large groups of atoms show collective quantum behavior. The thing that really gets me going is the process used to make ’em. The main step is something called optical cooling. It may sound very simple, but in reality it is difficult and mostly doesn’t work.

A recent paper in Physical Review Letters now adds a new optical cooling method to the physicist’s range of tools. In doing so, this opens up a whole lot of new and exciting possibilities.

Like, just cool off dude

The typical optical cooling method is an exceptionally neat bit of physics. Think about a gas of atoms. They are having a fantastic time in life’s mosh pit, flying in all directions and bouncing off one another with vim and vigor. But as with all good things in life, some old dude will turn up, complain about the noise, and generally suck all the entertainment out of life—everything just slows down. Slowing everything down is the easiest way to think of cooling.