Research

Research Priorities: Bose-Einstein condensate, condensates, bosons, ultracold atoms, quantum gases, sodium atoms, atomic lasers

Wolfgang Ketterle is a physicist. In 2001, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, together with Eric A. Cornell and Carl E. Wieman, for the creation of Bose-Einstein condensation and early fundamental studies on the properties of condensates. Wolfgang Ketterle was one of the first researchers to succeed in creating a Bose-Einstein condensate. He also developed the fundamentals for the atomic laser.

The Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a new state of matter. Certain elementary particles, the bosons, have an identical energy level in this state. They oscillate in sync, can no longer be distinguished and behave like a single particle. Typically, elementary particles have different speeds; some are more energetic than others. To obtain a BEC, a gas composed of these particles must be cooled to a very low temperature, down to minus 273 degrees Celsius. In this extreme cold, the atoms condense into an object. This option was already described in 1924 by the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose and by Albert Einstein. But it was not until 1995 that the three scientists succeeded in producing this state.

Eric A. Cornell and Carl E. Wieman produced a condensate of rubidium atoms at a temperature of 20 nanokelvin (20 billionths of a degree Celsius above absolute zero). Wolfgang Ketterle experimented in parallel with sodium atoms. A short time later, he succeeded in creating a Bose-Einstein condensate that consisted of a larger number of atoms and was, therefore, more suitable for further investigations. Thus, Wolfgang Ketterle created two condensates that showed interference patterns upon contact, comparable to the water's surface when two stones are thrown into it. With this experiment, he was able to prove that the atoms in the condensate behaved in a completely coordinated manner.

In subsequent research work, Wolfgang Ketterle generated a beam of small “BEC drops”. They “fell down” due to gravity - this was the basis for the development of a “laser beam” with matter instead of light. In recent years, Wolfgang Ketterle conducted new experiments with the Bose-Einstein condensate. He continues to research this state at the Center for Ultracold Atoms (CUA) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Career

• since 2006 Director, MIT-Harvard Center of Ultracold Atoms (CUA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA
• since 2006 Associate Director, Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), MIT, Cambridge, USA
• since 1998 John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• 1997-1998 Professor for physics, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• 1993-1997 Assistant Professor for Physics, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• 1990-1993 Visiting Researcher, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• 1989-1990 Research Scientist, Department of Physical Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Germany
• 1985-1988 Research Associate, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), Garching, Germany
• 1982-1985 Research Assistant, MPQ, Garching, Germany
• 1983-1986 PhD in physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), and MPQ, Germany
• 1982 Diploma in physics, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany
• Study of physics, TUM, Germany

Honours and Memberships

• 2011 Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia
• 2009 Honorary Member, German Association of University Professors and Lecturers, Germany
• 2009 James Joyce Award, Literary & Historical Society, University College, Dublin, Ireland
• 2009 Leonie Wild Medal, City of Eppelheim, Germany
• 2009 Humboldt Foundation’s research award, Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation, Bonn, Germany
• 2006 Fellow, Optical Society of America (OSA), USA
• since 2005 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
• 2004 Killian Award, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• since 2003 Member, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Munich, Germany
• since 2002 Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts (ESA), Austria
• 2002 Fellow, Institute of Physics (IOP), London, UK
• since 2002 Foreign Member, National Academy of Sciences (NAS), USA
• since 2002 Titular Member, European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (EAASH)
• since 2002 Member, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (HAdW), Germany
• 2002 Order of Merit, State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• 2002 Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, Government of France, France
• 2002 Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Sash, Federal Republic of Germany
• 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with Eric A. Cornell and Carl E. Wieman), Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA), Sweden
• 2000 Benjamin Franklin Medal, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, USA
• 1999 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), USA
• 1999 Dannie Heineman Prize, Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany
• 1999 Fritz London Prize in Low Temperature Physics, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), Trieste, Italy
• 1998 Award for Technological Innovation, Discover Magazine
• 1998-1999 Distinguished Traveling Lecturer, Division of Laser Science, American Physical Society (APS), USA
• 1997 Fellow, APS, USA
• 1997 Gustav Hertz Prize, German Physical Society (DPG), Germany
• 1997 I.I. Rabi Prize, APS, USA
• 1996 David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos, USA
• 1994 Michael and Philip Platzman Award, MIT, Cambridge, USA
• 1990-1991 NATO/DAAD Postdoctoral Fellowship
• 1976-1982 Fellowship, Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
• Recipient of a wide selection of honorary doctorates