Hannover 2003 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik

Q 41: Quantengase 4

Q 41.8: Talk

Thursday, March 27, 2003, 15:45–16:00, E001

Atom optics with Bose-Einstein condensates — •Ch. Buggle, I. Shvarchuck, D.S. Petrov, M. Kemmann, T.G. Tiecke, W. von Klitzing, G.V. Shlyapnikov, and J.T.M. Walraven — FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF), Kruislaan 407, 1098SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We observed focusing of elongated Bose-Einstein condensates in free flight after release from a Ioffe-Pritchard quadrupole trap [1].

In the presence of a linear inward velocity field along the axial direction an elongated condensate will contract axially while expanding in the radial direction under conditions of free flight. We discuss the conditions under which such a focus is observed and show that this is virtually impossible for collisionless thermal clouds. This difference allows an effective separation of the condensate from the surrounding thermal cloud. The focal size reflects the momentum uncertainty in the condensate and is used to measure the phase coherence length during formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate.

[1] I. Shvarchuck et al. (cond-mat/0207599, accepted for publication in PRL).