Atomic Bose-Einstein condensate to molecular Bose-Einstein condensate transition

ORAL

Abstract

We report the formation of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of spinning molecules by inducing pairing interactions in an atomic condensate near a g−wave Feshbach resonance. The trap geometry and the low temperature of the molecules help reducing inelastic loss to ensure thermal equilibrium. From the equation of state measurement, we determine the molecular scattering length to be +220(30) Bohr. We also investigate the unpairing dynamics and find that near the resonance the dynamical time scale is consistent with the unitarity limit. Our work confirms the long-sought transition between atomic and molecular condensates, the bosonic analog of the BEC-BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid) crossover in a Fermi gas. In addition, our experiment may shed light on condensed pairs with orbital angular momentum, where novel anisotropic superfluid with non-zero surface current is predicted for, e.g., 3He-A.

*This work is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant no.161 PHY-1511696, the Army Research Oce Multidisciplinary Research Initiative under grant 162 W911NF-14-1-0003 and the University of Chicago Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, which is funded by the NSF under grant no. DMR-1420709.

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Publication: ArXiv: 2006.15297

Presenters

  • Zhendong Zhang

    • The James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • University of Chicago

Authors

  • Zhendong Zhang

    • The James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • University of Chicago

  • Liangchao Chen

    • State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Opto-Electronics, Shanxi University

  • Kai-Xuan Yao

    • The James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • University of Chicago

  • Shu Nagata

    • The James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • University of Chicago

  • Cheng Chin

    • The James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • University of Chicago
    • U Chicago
    • James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, Physics Department, University of Chicago
    • James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago