Molecular gases are a new form of artificial quantum matter. However, when these molecules collide, they are often lost extremely rapidly. Researchers from Radboud University and Columbia University have been able to suppress this collisional loss, paving the way for strongly interacting quantum matter. This new artificial quantum matter allows researchers to study quantum behavior relevant to electrons in real materials. Their results are published in Science.

Quantum gases of molecules are created by cooling to nanokelvin temperatures, only 0.000000001° above absolute zero. Under these conditions, quantum effects dominate, and the molecules behave collectively, forming a Bose-Einstein condensate in which many molecules share the same quantum state. This new artificial quantum matter acts as a controllable model material that allows researchers to study quantum behavior relevant to electrons in real materials.