Tiangong cold-atom rack cools rubidium to 9.7 picokelvin with ~7 s observation; Science paper sets a new low-temperature record. | China Day chinaday.news
Xinhua's authorized flash about 06:01 said the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported on 6 November that scientists using the Cold Atom Physics Rack on the China Space Station, with all-optical-dipole-trap cooling, lowered a rubidium cloud's equivalent temperature to 9.7 picokelvin—14 orders of magnitude below room temperature—with about seven seconds of observation, a new low-temperature record. The Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization (CAS) led integration; Peking University and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (CAS) jointly delivered the science, published in Science. China News Service (about 06:01) said a briefing announced the result and cited the paper Quantum gases below 10 picokelvin in space, online in the early hours of 6 November Beijing time; the rack flew with Mengtian in 2022 after roughly 15 years of work. Science's First Release the same day (5 November US time; doi:10.1126/science.aea5324) reports an optical-dipole-trap Bose–Einstein condensate of about 2.0×10⁴ atoms at roughly 9.7 pK with 7.0 s free expansion. Science/AAAS News, Science News, DongA Science and Global Times English also covered the result, noting it undercuts prior ~38 pK drop-tower and ~52 pK ISS Cold Atom Lab figures. The node landed after the 5 November 20:00 close, so the morning open logs it.
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