Probing Question: Are there upper and lower limits to temperature?

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Three images showing formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of rubidium atoms. Courtesy NIST
Three images showing formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of rubidium atoms. Courtesy NIST

Most people have heard absolute zero described as the lowest possible temperature, but what does that mean? Is it really the coldest cold, or just the lowest temperature that we can measure? Is there a corresponding highest temperature? According to Moses Chan, Evan Pugh professor of physics at Penn State, answering these questions requires understanding the meaning of temperature.


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