Putting a new theory of many-particle quantum systems to the test

New experiments using trapped one-dimensional gases--atoms cooled to the coldest temperatures in the universe and confined so that they can only move in a line--fit with the predictions of the recently developed theory of "generalized hydrodynamics." Quantum mechanics is necessary to describe the novel properties of these gases. Achieving a better understanding of how such systems with many particles evolve in time is a frontier of quantum physics. The result could greatly simplify the study of ...