Nonlinear atom optics of bosons and fermions

Louis de Broglie's revolutionary conjecture in 1923 that massive particles have a wave character played a central role in the invention of quantum mechanics by Heisenberg and Schrödinger. The experimental verification of the wave nature of atoms followed soon thereafter, when Otto Stern demonstrated the reflection and diffraction of atoms at metal surfaces. While these experiments can be considered as marking the birth of atom optics, a major stumbling block toward its further development is the fact that at room temperature, the thermal de Broglie wavelength is only of the order of a few hundredths of nanometers.