Correlations in ultracold atomic gases

Summary form only given. Phase transitions are among the most dramatic phenomena in nature. Minute variations in the conditions controlling a system trigger a fundamental change of its properties. In the critical regime near a second-order phase transition point the fluctuations of the order parameter are so dominant that they completely govern the behaviour of the system on all length scales. The correlation length of the ultracold gas measures the characteristic length scale of these fluctuations and diverges at the critical temperature. Using cold atomic gases, we have directly observed critical fluctuations of the order parameter near the phase transition of Bose-Einstein condensation. From the divergence of the correlation length of the order parameter versus temperature we have determined its critical exponent v. Despite our densities being ten orders of magnitude smaller and our interactions considerably weaker, we find a remarkable similarity to case of the lambda-transition of helium-4.