= Low-temperature physicist
A <low-temperature physicist> investigates matter when thermal excitation is small enough for quantum behaviour to become especially prominent. <Superconductivity>, <superfluidity> and spin systems are characteristic subjects, although the temperature scale depends on the material and the effect being studied.
The central experimental problem is often controlling unwanted <heat transfer> while making a measurable electrical, magnetic or mechanical probe. A <cryostat> supplies a controlled low-<temperature> environment; thermometry and heat-leak measurements establish what the sample actually experiences. Reducing $k_BT$ relative to an excitation <energy gap> can suppress thermal populations, allowing a quantum ground-state response to be distinguished from a classical high-<temperature> one.
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