Dr. Michael S. Pindzola, professor of physics at Auburn University, will be on campus Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 23 and 24, as part of WMU's Visiting Scholars and Artists Program. Pindzola will spend two days on campus, meeting with faculty and students to discuss quantum dynamics and atomic processes in plasma. Bose-Einstein condensation occurs when matter is cooled to a billionth of a degree above absolute zero, allowing millions of atoms to be condensed into one state. Proposed in theory nearly 80 years ago, the ability to produce the condensates has evolved only in the last six years and the resulting state is often referred to as the 'fifth' state of matter. According to Dr. Tom Gorczyca, WMU associate professor of physics who is coordinating Pindzola's visit, Bose-Einstein condensation is a hot topic in atomic physics and the potential uses for it are wide open.
Research often predates commercial applications by many years.
Pindzola has served as a consultant at national laboratories in the United States and abroad, and has received numerous Department of Energy and National Science Foundation grants to conduct atomic physics research. He earned his doctoral degree at the University of Virginia and conducted post-doctoral research at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In addition to his public lecture, Pindzola will meet with faculty and students during his visit. His visit is sponsored by WMU's Department of Physics. The Visiting Scholars and Artists Program was established in 1960 and has supported more than 500 visits by scholars and artists representing more than 65 academic disciplines.