Quantum tunneling across spin domains in a Bose-Einstein condensate

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of quantum tunneling in metastable spin domains within a Bose-Einstein condensate, providing insights into boundary spin structures and their effects on tunneling rates.

Contribution

It introduces a mean-field model for quantum tunneling in spinor BECs and compares it with experimental measurements, revealing boundary spin structures.

Findings

Quantum tunneling observed in metastable spin domains.

Tunneling rates sensitive to boundary spin structures.

Boundary spin structures differ from bulk properties.

Abstract

Quantum tunneling was observed in the decay of metastable spin domains in gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates. A mean-field description of the tunneling was developed and compared with measurement. The tunneling rates are a sensitive probe of the boundary between spin domains, and indicate a spin structure in the boundary between spin domains which is prohibited in the bulk fluid. These experiments were performed with optically trapped F=1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium.