The temperature of an atom is determined by its energy and entropy.
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A cloud of atoms with a temperature above absolute zero – which is extraordinarily hotter than any imaginable positive temperature – could be a mysterious new quantum state of matter.
Luca Donnini The Cambridge researchers created this seemingly paradoxical situation by precisely manipulating the energy levels and quantum states of thousands of potassium atoms. “Quantum mechanics allows you to do this, but classical thermodynamics would never allow you to do it,” he says.
Source: www.newscientist.com
