By analyzing the large-scale structure of the Universe, cosmologists have inferred that space expanded rapidly in the moments after the big bang. During that expansion, the Universe was empty, except for quantum fields present in the vacuum. How those fields evolved in the curved spacetime of an inflating Universe is still an open question whose solution may help scientists understand how particles came into existence. Researchers at Heidelberg University, Germany, have now produced an analog system for studying these fields [1]. In a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of ultracold atoms, they demonstrate properties that map to curved space and time, providing a new tool for simulating quantum field evolution in an expanding universe.
To read more, click here.