Observation of dipole-dipole interaction in a degenerate quantum gas

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of dipole-dipole interactions in a Bose-Einstein condensate of chromium atoms, demonstrating anisotropic expansion influenced by magnetic dipoles, confirming theoretical predictions for dipolar quantum gases.

Contribution

First experimental observation of dipole-dipole interactions in a degenerate quantum gas of chromium atoms, validating theoretical models of dipolar quantum gases.

Findings

Dipolar interactions cause anisotropic deformation during BEC expansion.

The observed behavior aligns with theoretical predictions for dipolar quantum gases.

Chromium BEC serves as an effective model for studying dipolar effects.

Abstract

We have investigated the expansion of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of strongly magnetic chromium atoms. The long-range and anisotropic magnetic dipole-dipole interaction leads to an anisotropic deformation of the expanding Cr-BEC which depends on the orientation of the atomic dipole moments. Our measurements are consistent with the theory of dipolar quantum gases and show that a Cr-BEC is an excellent model system to study dipolar interactions in such gases.