Optically-induced lensing effect on a Bose-Einstein condensate expanding in a moving lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a moving optical lattice can induce a lensing effect on an expanding Bose-Einstein condensate, with experimental results aligning with theoretical models and detailed band spectroscopy performed.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental observation of lattice-induced lensing on a BEC and compares results with an effective 1D theoretical model.

Findings

Lensing effect observed on BEC in a moving lattice

Effective mass depends on quasi-momentum

Band spectroscopy performed in real space

Abstract

We report the experimental observation of a lensing effect on a Bose-Einstein condensate expanding in a moving 1D optical lattice. The effect of the periodic potential can be described by an effective mass dependent on the condensate quasi-momentum. By changing the velocity of the atoms in the frame of the optical lattice we induce a focusing of the condensate along the lattice direction. The experimental results are compared with the numerical predictions of an effective 1D theoretical model. Besides, a precise band spectroscopy of the system is carried out by looking at the real-space propagation of the atomic wavepacket in the optical lattice.