Measuring the dipolar interaction shift of the BEC critical temperature

ORAL

Abstract

The effect of dipolar interactions on harmonically trapped BECs has been the subject of intense and fruitful research over recent years, but despite being theoretically calculated over 15 years ago [1] the modification of the BEC transition temperature due to dipole-dipole interactions has, up to now, not been experimentally observed. We will present our experimental findings on this topic; using an ultracold erbium gas confined in a highly prolate trap we directly observe the dependence of the critical temperature on the orientation of the dipoles relative to the trap.

[1] Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 080407 (2007)

*This work was supported by UK EPSRC Grants No. EP/P009565/1 and EP/T019913/1. P. J. acknowledges funding from the Royal Society and NTP Grant No. NTP-NFTÖ-21-C-0060, J. K. from the Oxford Physics Endowment for Graduates and G. L. from Wolfson College, University of Oxford.

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Presenters

  • Milan Krstajic

    • Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford

Authors

  • Milan Krstajic

    • Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford

  • Lucas R Hofer

    • University of Oxford
    • Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford

  • Jiří Kučera

    • University of Oxford

  • Péter Juhász

    • University of Oxford

  • Gavin Lamb

    • University of Oxford
    • Clarednon Laboratory, University of Oxford

  • Robert P Smith

    • University of Oxford