Survival of weak-field seekers inside a TOP trap

TL;DR

This paper investigates the conditions for trapping weak field seeking atoms in a TOP trap, revealing that atoms can be confined even outside the adiabatic limit, which could simplify experimental setups.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative analysis of adiabaticity conditions in TOP traps, showing confinement is possible beyond traditional adiabatic limits.

Findings

Atoms can be confined outside the adiabatic limit.

Quantitative conditions for adiabatic evolution are established.

Potential to relax trapping restrictions in experiments.

Abstract

In this article, for the first time in the context of TOP trap, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the adiabatic evolution of weak field seeking states have been quantitatively examined. It has been well accepted since decades that adiabaticity has to be obeyed by the atoms for successful magnetic trapping. However, we show, on the contrary, that atoms can also be confined beyond the adiabatic limit. Hence, our findings open new possibilities to relax the restrictions of atom trapping in laboratories.