Implosions in quenched Bose-Einstein condensates

POSTER

Abstract

Fluctuations in a Bose-Einstein condensate remain difficult to probe directly. We consider a series of experiments in which a Bose-Einstein condensate is quenched from a positive to negative scattering length via moving across a Feshbach resonance. Following such a quench, initial fluctuations in the gas, whether seeded by a certain potential, thermal fluctuations, or quantum fluctuations, may be amplified on a time-scale which is fast compared to the collapse of the bulk. We first consider a harmonically trapped gas with a weak perturbing lattice potential, looking at implosions at each lattice site when the gas becomes attractive. We report the latest progress on the comparison between analytic formulae and simulations to laboratory results. This understanding of implosions may then be used to explore intrinsically seeded fluctuations.

Presenters

  • Eli J Halperin

    • JILA

Authors

  • Eli J Halperin

    • JILA

  • Michael J Van de Graaff

    • University of Colorado, Boulder

  • 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