millikelvins

A millikelvin (mK) is a unit of temperature equal to one-thousandth of a kelvin. The kelvin is the base unit of thermodynamic temperature in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one millikelvin is equivalent to 0.001 kelvin. The millikelvin is a very small temperature increment, representing a tiny fraction of the difference between absolute zero (0 K) and the freezing point of water (273.15 K).

Temperatures in the millikelvin range are extremely cold and are primarily achieved and studied in specialized scientific laboratories. Achieving such low temperatures requires sophisticated cooling techniques, often involving cryocoolers, dilution refrigerators, and adiabatic demagnetization. These environments are crucial for investigating fundamental physics phenomena that only occur at very low temperatures, such as superconductivity, Bose-Einstein condensates, and quantum entanglement.

The millikelvin scale is particularly relevant in fields like condensed matter physics, low-temperature astrophysics, and the development of highly sensitive scientific instruments. For instance, experiments probing the behavior of matter at its quantum limits or searching for exotic particles often require temperature control within the millikelvin range to minimize thermal noise and reveal subtle effects.