Tunneling lifetime of trapped condensates

TL;DR

This paper uses complex scaling to calculate the tunneling lifetime of trapped condensates and demonstrates how varying the scattering length can control atom flux and condensate stability.

Contribution

It introduces a method to compute tunneling lifetimes and shows how the external potential can be tuned to control condensate stability.

Findings

Varying scattering length affects tunneling lifetime.

External potential acts as a 'selective membrane' controlling atom flux.

Control over condensate size and stability achieved.

Abstract

Using the complex scaling transformation we calculate the tunneling lifetime of a condensate inside a magnetic/optical trap. We show that by varying the scattering length, the external potential acts like a 'selective membrane' which controls the direction of the flux of the cold atoms through the barriers and thereby controls the size of the stable condensate inside the trap.