Observation of Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Dilute Atomic Vapor

Other articles describing this result appear on pages 152 and 182 of the same issue. The Bose-Einstein Condensate was also named "Molecule of the Year" by Science in its December 22, 1995 issue. This result, in my opinion, provides teachers of physical chemistry an extraordinarily nice opportunity to illustrate the "particle in a box" exercise that we all use to teach quantum chemistry, with a new experimental example. It also provides a new opportunity to emphasize the significance of Bose-Einstein versus Fermi-Dirac statistics. I used it as the basis for a cumulative examination for our physical chemistry graduate students, and will also be incorporating it into my physical chemistry courses.