Cold atom physics and its applications in a microgravity environment

We review the field of cold atom physics and its applications in a microgravity environment, including atomic clocks in space, atomic interferometers, ultra-cold atom physics, and the proposed investigation of general relativity. A brief introduction is presented of the research in the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics on atomic clocks in space, Bose-Einstein condensation and atom chips in a microgravity environment.