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Absolute Zero

Absolute zero is the coldest temperature theoretically possible. It cannot be reached by artificial or natural means, because it is impossible to decouple a system fully from the rest of the universe. Technically, it is a temperature marked by a 0 entropy configuration. Thus, absolute zero possesses quantum mechanical zero-point energy. By international agreement, absolute zero is defined as precisely 0 K on the Kelvin scale, which is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale, and −273.15° on the Celsius scale.

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IMAGES (32)

  1. Planck’s cooling system (at 1 degree Kelvin)
    Planck’s cooling system (at 1 degree Kelvin)

    Tue, 26 May 2009

    the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) - will operate at a few degrees above absolute zero . To achieve this, a series of cooling stages are required. The picture shows the third and last cooling stage

  2. Planck’s cooling system (at 20 degrees Kelvin), coloured
    Planck’s cooling system (at 20 degrees Kelvin), coloured

    Tue, 26 May 2009

    the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) - will operate at a few degrees above absolute zero . To achieve this, a series of cooling stages are required. The picture shows the first cooling stage which brings

  3. Planck’s cooling system (at 4 degrees Kelvin)
    Planck’s cooling system (at 4 degrees Kelvin)

    Tue, 26 May 2009

    the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) - will operate at a few degrees above absolute zero . To achieve this, a series of cooling stages are required. The picture shows the second cooling stage which brings

  4. Planck’s cooling system - full view
    Planck’s cooling system - full view

    Tue, 26 May 2009

    To achieve the mission goals, the Planck instruments – the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) - will operate at a few degrees above absolute zero . To achieve this, a series of cooling stages are required.

  5. Planck’s cooling system composite
    Planck’s cooling system composite

    Tue, 26 May 2009

    equipped with the means of cooling the detectors to levels close to absolute zero (-273.15º C), ranging from about -253 º C to only a few tenths of a degree above absolute zero .

Featured

  1. Prototype Developed To Detect Dark Matter
    Prototype Developed To Detect Dark Matter

    Fri, 25 Sep 2009Text

    …they have developed various cryogenic detectors (which operate at temperatures close to absolute zero: −273.15 °C). The latest is a "scintillating bolometer", a 46-gram device that, in this case, contains a crystal "scintillator", made up of ……of heat produced, the detector must be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero, and a cryogenic facility, reinforced with lead and polyethylene bricks and protected from cosmic radiation as it housed under the Tobazo mountain, …

  2. Speedier computer circuits created

    Mon, 28 Sep 2009Text

  3. Discovery About Behavior Of Building Block Of Nature May Lead To Computer Revolution

    Thu, 30 Jul 2009Text

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ARTICLES (179)

  1. Big Bang Collider Restarts After 14-Month Hiatus
    Big Bang Collider Restarts After 14-Month Hiatus

    Sat, 21 Nov 2009

    …cooling magnets in the 27-km (17-mile) underground ring, which smashes particles at a temperature of just above absolute zero to recreate conditions believed to exist at the start of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. Since then, the LHC …

  2. Rice Ties In Race For Atomic-Scale Breakthrough

    Tue, 17 Nov 2009

    …most likely to condense. To get the atoms to stop in their tracks and form a BEC, the lab had to cool them to near absolute zero (-459.67 degrees Fahrenheit) through a combination of tried-and-true techniques involving lasers and evaporative …

  3. New Study Confirms Exotic Electric Properties Of Graphene

    Tue, 17 Nov 2009

    …system is cooled down to less than one degree above absolute zero and a strong magnetic field is applied, then the fractional ……cooled this configuration down within six degrees of absolute zero and applied a magnetic field, the graphene generated …

REFERENCE LIBRARY

  1. Boomerang Nebula

    Tue, 19 Oct 2004

    …coldest place in the Universe found so far.With a temperature of -272 degrees C, it is only 1 degree warmer than absolute zero (the lowest limit for all temperatures). Even the -270 degrees C background glow from the Big Bang is warmer than …

  2. Cosmic Background Radiation

    Tue, 19 Oct 2004

    …Nobel prize in physics for their discovery.Today, the CMB radiation is very cold, only 2.725� above absolute zero , thus this radiation shines primarily in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and is invisible …