Konwersatorium im. Jerzego Pniewskiego

The refrigeration of matter into the milli- or even microkelvin temperature range opens up the fascinating and powerful possibility to study physical properties of matter, like phase transitions, in an experimental environment where most of the unavoidable disturbances present at higher temperatures are almost completely frozen out - which means that experiments performed at low temperatures enable unique access to solutions of fundamental physical problems. Physics at low temperatures is also strongly linked to the development of numerous experimental metods and techniques, and most importantly, the application of some of these techniques is not necessarily restricted to the study of "inanimate" samples in the rather unpleasant ambience around the boiling point of liquid helium. Particular properties of low-temperature superconductors are, for example, of elementary importance with regard to the detection of tiny magnetic fields, which is used in magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study the dynamics of human brain functions. Based on our discovery of superconductivity of platinum, the first part of the talk will contain an introduction into experimental physics and methods at very low temperatures. In the second part, the importance of low-temperature techniques as indispensable prerequisites in modern methods for imaging human brain functions will be discussed.