Scientists have created a new incredible form of matter. In it, electrons orbit the nucleus in such a distance while other atoms are closer to the nucleus. And if you know anything about material science you won’t be surprised you first need the Bose-Einstein condensate.
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What can we find in atoms in between their nucleus and the orbitals? Usually nothing. But what if particles appeared there. Theoretically, if the orbitals were far away there would be enough space. And that is exactly the type of matter that has been created by physicists from the Technical University Wien, Harvard and the Rice University. They created gigantic atoms capable of bonding with other atoms through the weak force and create an exotic form of matter called Rydberg Polarons.
Scientists have been studying two very special kinds of matter for some time already but they both exist only in extreme conditions. The first is the Bose-Einstein condensate – an ultra-cold matter, almost at absolute zero and then Rydberg atoms where one electron is highly excited and orbits the nucleus at a large distance. But what if we took both of these and create a single experiment for both of them?
The researchers have created a strontium Bose-Einstein condensate. Then the gave a lot of energy to one of the atoms with a laser and thus created a giant Rydberg atom. The electron is then orbiting in such a distance that many other strontium atoms in the Bose-Einstein condensate get in between the electron and the nucleus. While the amount of the atoms there can vary the scientists say there can up to 170 atoms inside a single Rydberg atom.
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