Probing a Bose-Einstein Condensate with an Atom Laser

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a pulsed atom laser from a Bose-Einstein condensate can be used to probe and measure properties of a second condensate, including interaction parameters like the s-wave scattering length.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method using an atom laser to probe a second condensate and extract interaction properties, advancing experimental techniques in quantum gases.

Findings

Measured the s-wave scattering length between specific hyperfine states in 87Rb.

Showed that the spatial distribution of scattered atoms reveals properties of the target condensate.

Demonstrated the feasibility of using an atom laser as a probe for condensate interactions.

Abstract

A pulsed atom laser derived from a Bose-Einstein condensate is used to probe a second target condensate. The target condensate scatters the incident atom laser pulse. From the spatial distribution of scattered atoms, one can infer important properties of the target condensate and its interaction with the probe pulse. As an example, we measure the s-wave scattering length that, in low energy collisions, describes the interaction between the |F=1,m_F=-1> and |F=2,m_F=0> hyperfine ground states in 87Rb.