Probing temperature and damping rates in Bose-Einstein condensates using ultraslow light experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel ultraslow light experimental approach to measure damping rates and temperature in Bose-Einstein condensates by analyzing Landau and Beliaev collisional processes, improving low-temperature measurement accuracy.

Contribution

It presents a new method to probe damping rates in BECs using ultraslow light, enabling distinction between collisional regimes and more precise low-temperature measurements.

Findings

Damping rates are proportional to dephasing rates in ultraslow light systems.

Landau decay rates are enhanced at low momenta, facilitating regime distinction.

Potential for more accurate low-temperature measurement in dilute condensates.

Abstract

We propose a method to probe Landau and Beliaev processes in dilute trapped atomic condensates with a multiple state structure using ultraslow light experimental configurations. Under certain conditions, damping rates from these collisional processes are directly proportional to the dephasing rates, making it possible to determine damping rates through measurement of the dephasing. In the ultraslow light systems we consider, Landau decay rates are enhanced at low momenta, which allows one to distinguish between Landau-dominated and Beliaev-dominated regimes at the same temperature. Furthermore, the enhancement of Landau rates potentially provides a way to measure low temperatures ($T \ll T_c$) in dilute condensates more accurately than current methods permit.