Boseeinstein condensate, a new state of matter—an introduction to the 2001 nobel prize in physics

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2001 was awarded to Eric. A.Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Carl.E.Wieman for “the achievement of BoseEinstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensate”. We give a brief introduction to the reaearch background, the contribution of the laureates and the significance of BoseEinstein condensation.