Bistability and macroscopic quantum coherence in a Bose-Einstein condensate of Li-7

Year: 2002

Authors: Montina A., Arecchi F.T.

Autors Affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Via F. Buonarroti 2, 56127 Pisa, Italy;
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Firenze;
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Largo E. Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italy

Abstract: We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate of Li-7 in a situation where the density undergoes a symmetry breaking in real space. This occurs for a suitable number of condensed atoms in a double-well potential, obtained by adding a standing-wave light field to the trap potential. Evidence of bistability results from the solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. By second quantization, we show that the classical bistable situation leads, in fact, to a macroscopic quantum superposition or Schrodinger cat (SC) and evaluate the tunneling rate between the two SC states. The oscillation between the two states is called macroscopic quantum coherence (MQC); we study the effects of losses on MQC.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 66 (1)      Pages from: 013605-1  to: 013605-8

KeyWords: ATTRACTIVE INTERACTIONS; ATOMS; GAS
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.66.013605

Citations: 13
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