Bosenova and three-body loss in a Rb-85 Bose-Einstein condensate

TL;DR

This paper reports experimental observations of collapsing Rb-85 Bose-Einstein condensates, demonstrating quantitative agreement with the Gross-Pitaevskii model and setting new limits on three-body loss coefficients.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on BEC collapse and refines the understanding of three-body loss rates in Rb-85 condensates, aligning with theoretical predictions.

Findings

Quantitative agreement with Gross-Pitaevskii equation

New limits on Rb-85 three-body loss coefficient K_3

Detailed measurements of atom decay during collapse

Abstract

Collapsing Bose-Einstein condensates are rich and complex quantum systems for which quantitative explanation by simple models has proved elusive. We present new experimental data on the collapse of high density Rb-85 condensates with attractive interactions and find quantitative agreement with the predictions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The collapse data and measurements of the decay of atoms from our condensates allow us to put new limits on the value of the Rb-85 three-body loss coefficient K_3 at small positive and negative scattering lengths.