Time interval distributions of atoms in atomic beams

TL;DR

This paper experimentally investigates two-particle correlations in atomic beams from a Bose-Einstein condensate, comparing atom laser and pseudo-thermal beams, and confirms theoretical predictions through precise detection measurements.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental analysis of two-particle correlations in atomic beams, validating theoretical models with high-precision atom counting.

Findings

Good agreement with theoretical predictions

Distinct correlation behaviors in atom laser and thermal beams

Quantitative measurement of detection probabilities

Abstract

We report on the experimental investigation of two-particle correlations between neutral atoms in a Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment. Both an atom laser beam and a pseudo-thermal atomic beam are extracted from a Bose-Einstein condensate and the atom flux is measured with a single atom counter. We determine the conditional and the unconditional detection probabilities for the atoms in the beam and find good agreement with the theoretical predictions.