Josephson effect between trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper investigates the Josephson effect in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates, deriving a semiclassical model and analyzing dissipation effects, suggesting observable coherent dynamics in current experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a semiclassical functional expression for the Josephson coupling energy in 3D condensates using an electrostatic analogy.

Findings

Derived a semiclassical expression for Josephson coupling energy.

Estimated capacitive energy and plasma frequency.

Analyzed dissipation effects and experimental observability.

Abstract

We study the Josephson effect between atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. By drawing on an electrostatic analogy, we derive a semiclassical functional expression for the three-dimensional Josephson coupling energy in terms of the condensate density. Estimates of the capacitive energy and of the Josephson plasma frequency are also given. The effect of dissipation due to the incoherent exchange of normal atoms is analysed. We conclude that coherent Josephson dynamics may already be observable in current experimental systems.