Hanbury Brown and Twiss correlations in atoms scattered from colliding condensates

TL;DR

This paper investigates Hanbury Brown and Twiss correlations in atoms scattered from colliding Bose condensates, explaining experimental observations through a simple interference model involving pairs of atoms from s-wave scattering.

Contribution

It introduces a straightforward model to explain HBT correlations in atom scattering, linking interference effects to elementary s-wave scattering processes.

Findings

Observation of HBT correlations in atom scattering

Interference model explains correlation patterns

Connection between scattering pairs and HBT effects

Abstract

Low energy elastic scattering between clouds of Bose condensed atoms leads to the well known s-wave halo with atoms emerging in all directions from the collision zone. In this paper we discuss the emergence of Hanbury Brown and Twiss coincidences between atoms scattered in nearly parallel directions. We develop a simple model that explains the observations in terms of an interference involving two pairs of atoms each associated with the elementary s wave scattering process.