On 2nd March, students from secondary schools will be closer to Quantum Mechanics and Ultracold Gases. Bruno Julià, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences and the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics of the UB, has organised the workshop "Ultracold UB. Outreach on Quantum Mechanics and Ultracold Gases" which will represent the University of Barcelona at the Youth Mobile Festival.

YOMO, the Youth Mobile Festival, is an event of the Mobile World Congress devoted to Science and Technology for young people. It is organized with the collaboration of the Departament d'Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

The Workshop

Instructors: Bruno Julià (in charge); Muntsa Guilleumas, Artur Polls; and the students: María Arazo, Laura Moreno, Ivan Morera, & Alejandro Romero.

Age: Over 16

Place: stand #32 Fira de Montjuic

Participants will be able to learn about some of the most relevant phenomena of quantum mechanics, taking as an example the current research in physics laboratories of ultracold gases. Quantum technologies will be of great importance in the near future in both computing and cryptography techniques and information handling. This makes it essential that the whole population acquires a minimum familiarity with its most fascinating aspects. All the material of this workshop has been made in open code by university course students of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona.

The workshop consists of making simulations with computers of several experiments in which the quantum properties of matter are revealed. In particular, the simulation of the movement of a set of ultra-cold atoms trapped in a potential well (analogy with the movement of a pendulum), the simulation of the movement of a soliton in an atomic gas at temperature 0 K or the simulation of a quantum Newton pendulum. At the end of the simulation the participants will receive one of the simulations made by e-mail.