Recent Progress in Bose-Einstein Condensation Experiments

When the atoms in a gas are cooled to extremely low temperatures, their quantum-mechanical nature starts to dominate the properties of the whole gas. Under the appropriate conditions, the atoms will 'condense' into a single quantum state of the system - a phenomenon known as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). The resulting 'condensate' behaves as a single, observable quantum-mechanical object. During the last decade, this new state of matter has displayed many remarkable properties. In this paper, we review some of the most recent experimental developments in the BEC field, highlighting the role of atomic interactions and the high degree of control with which condensates may be manipulated.