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Credit: Jonas Ahlstedt / Lund University Bioimaging Centre (LBIC)
Phase transitions describe dramatic changes in properties of a macroscopic system - like the transition from a liquid to a gas. Starting from individual ultracold atoms, Heidelberg University physicists were able to observe the emergence of such a transition with an increasing number of particles. The research work was carried out in the field of quantum physics under the direction of Prof. Dr Selim Jochim from the Institute for Physics.
In order to formulate effective theories in physics, microscopic details are set aside in favour of macroscopically observable quantities. A cup of water can be described by properties like pressure, temperature and density of the fluid, whereas the position and velocity of the individual water molecules are irrelevant. A phase transition describes the change of a macroscopic system from one state of matter, like fluid, to a different state of matter, like gaseous. The prop