Dr. Eric Cornell is a distinguished physicist renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to quantum mechanics and atomic physics. He currently serves as a Professor Adjunct in the Physics Department at the University of Colorado Boulder and holds a senior scientist position at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. As a Fellow of JILA, the joint institute between NIST and CU Boulder, he has established himself as a leading figure in the field of ultracold atomic physics. Cornell earned his B.S. from Stanford University in 1985 before completing his Ph.D. at MIT in 1990 under David Pritchard, where he conducted precision measurements of single trapped ions in magnetic fields. His academic journey led him to join Carl Wieman's research group at JILA in Boulder, Colorado, where he would achieve his most significant scientific breakthrough.
Dr. Cornell's most celebrated achievement was the creation of the Bose-Einstein condensate in 1995, a state of matter predicted by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein in 1924 but never before observed experimentally. Working with rubidium atoms cooled to temperatures just above absolute zero, he and Carl Wieman successfully demonstrated this quantum phenomenon, opening an entirely new field of research in quantum physics. This pioneering work provided experimental validation of fundamental quantum mechanical principles governing particles with whole-number spin at ultra-low temperatures. The creation of the Bose-Einstein condensate represented a paradigm shift in atomic physics, enabling scientists to study quantum phenomena on a macroscopic scale and earning Cornell the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.
Beyond his Nobel-winning research, Dr. Cornell has continued to make significant contributions to the understanding of ultracold atomic systems and their applications. His laboratory conducts cutting-edge research on strongly interacting Bose gases, precision molecular spectroscopy, and investigations into potential extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. He has mentored numerous students and researchers who have gone on to establish their own successful careers in physics. Dr. Cornell's current research includes innovative projects to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron, which could provide insights into fundamental symmetries of the universe. His enduring influence continues to shape the field of quantum physics as he explores new frontiers in precision measurement and atomic physics.
