Quantum spins mixing in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper investigates the internal spin structure and dynamics of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates with hyperfine spins, identifying ground states and predicting spin-mixing times.

Contribution

It introduces a set of collective spin states that minimize interaction energy and predicts the time scale of spin-mixing in spinor BECs.

Findings

Identification of ground state spin configurations

Prediction of spin-mixing time scale

Analysis of internal spin dynamics

Abstract

We examine the internal structure of the ground states of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate in which atoms have three internal hyperfine spins. We determine a set of collective spin states which minimize the interaction energy between condensate atoms. We also examine the internal dynamics of an initially spin polarized condensate. The time scale of spin-mixing is predicted.