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Implosions in Bose Einstein Condensates as a probe for quantum and thermal fluctuations

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Abstract

Understanding the nature of fluctuations within a Bose-Einstein Condensate poses a difficult experimental challenge. When a BEC initially with positive interactions is quenched to a large negative scattering length, it is known that the resulting gas will be unstable and begin to collapse. Any initial perturbations of the density will be amplified as they seed the ensuing implosions. Using a well understood initial perturbation provided by an optical lattice potential, we characterize the experimental signatures of the microscopic implosions. This sets the stage for future experiments where the implosions are seeded by intrinsic quantum or thermal fluctuations, and thus the implosions will become an experimental tool for measuring fluctuations in a BEC.

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Presenters

  • Michael J Van de Graaff

    University of Colorado, Boulder

Authors

  • Michael J Van de Graaff

    University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Eli J Halperin

    JILA

  • John L Bohn

    JILA and University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado, JILA, NIST, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Jun Ye

    JILA and University of Colorado Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Colorado, Boulder, JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA, JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA, JILA, NIST, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder, JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado at Boulder

  • Eric A Cornell

    National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder, Boulder