Slowing Down Atoms And Biomolecules With Lasers

Tokyokid writes "In an interview on Berkeley Groks, Nobel Laureate Steve Chu talks about cooling atoms down using lasers. In another words, the atoms or molecules are slowed down in this "optical molasses." Scientists now are using these techniques to study the interactions and forces between biomolecules. These studies may give a better understanding of how life works on the molecular level."

Comments

Compton scattering

[aurum42]

Is this related to Compton scattering (usually between an electron and a photon)? As I recall, there's a cos(Theta) term there, so the energy transfer could go either way between the electron and the photon. This also sounds a lot like how the bose-einstein condensate (a recently discovered "new state" of matter, and cause of a nobel) was created.