I am a high school chemistry/physics teacher and I was just wondering what the phase change into/out of a Bose-Einstein Condensate is called? Thanks!
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$\begingroup$ I'm not sure that it is common enough to have a name such as 'melting'. But I'm open to correction by a BEC physicist... $\endgroup$– Jon CusterCommented Jan 31, 2019 at 16:20
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The phase change is simply called "Bose condensation" or "Bose-Einstein condensation"
https://www.nature.com/articles/416211a https://www.nist.gov/publications/bose-condensation-photons-thermalized-laser-cooling-atoms
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$\begingroup$ Thanks! Does it transition back to a solid? Is there a name for that change? Thanks! $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 31, 2019 at 15:25
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$\begingroup$ Atoms in solids do not undergo Bose-condensation, usually it is a gas/vapor to Bose-Einstein condensate transition. In solids the analogous transition is the superfluid/superconducting transition. In both cases, you would usually call the reverse process simply "melting". $\endgroup$– KF GaussCommented Jan 31, 2019 at 15:57
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1$\begingroup$ It should be noted that a BEC is just a metastable state, the true ground state is indeed a solid. BEC atoms do form molecules via three-body recombinations, i.e. solids. To make and keep a BEC, you slow these processes down by using dilute (low density) gases. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 8:20