Interaction between gravitational waves and trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper explores how gravitational waves can induce measurable phase shifts in Bose-Einstein condensates, especially when confined anisotropically, potentially aiding gravitational wave detection.

Contribution

It analyzes the interaction between gravitational waves and BECs, highlighting phase shift enhancements in anisotropic traps for both ideal and interacting condensates.

Findings

Gravitational waves cause phase shifts in BECs.

Anisotropic confinement enhances phase shift effects.

Interacting BECs exhibit different phase responses.

Abstract

Inspired by recent proposals for detecting gravitational waves by using Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), we investigate the interplay between these two phenomena. A gravitational wave induces a phase shift in the fidelity amplitude of the many-body quantum state. We study the enhancement of the phase shift in the case of Bose condensates confined by an anisotropic harmonic potential, considering both ideal and interacting BEC.