Bose-Einstein condensation of interacting spin-1 $^{87}$Rb atoms in an all-optical trap

Spinor condensates provide a weakly interacting, multi-component degenerate gas with rotational symmetry in spin space. Although the spin interactions are an order of magnitude weaker than the scalar mean-field density interaction, interesting spinor dynamics and novel phenomena can be observed, including multiple- condensation, spin mixing, and the formation of spin domains [1]. The spin interactions of $^87$Rb F=1 BEC are ferromagnetic in nature [2], and hence provide qualitatively different phenomena compared to anti-ferromagnetic ($^{23}$Na F=1) systems. We will discuss our recent experiment of $^87$Rb F=1 spinor condensates in a single-focused all-optical trap.\\ \\ 1. J. Stenger \textit{et al.}, Nature \textbf{396}, 345 (1998)\\ 2. H. Schmaljohann \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett., \textbf {92}, 040402 (2004). M.-S. chang \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. lett., \textbf{92}, 140403 (2004).