We consider the generation of longitudinal phonons in an elongated Bose-condensed gas at zero temperature due to parametric resonance as a result of the modulation of the transverse trap frequency. The nonlinear temporal evolution with account of the phonon-phonon interaction leads self-consistently to the formation of the stationary state with the macroscopic occupation of a single phonon quantum state.
We report the observation of a Bose Einstein condensate in a bosonic isotope of ytterbium (170Yb). More than 10^6 atoms are trapped in a crossed optical dipole trap and cooled by evaporation. Condensates of approximately 10^4 atoms have been obtained. From an expansion of the condensate, we have extracted the scattering length a=3.6(9) nm.
A mechanism for the formation of a new type of stationary state with macroscopical number of phonons in condensed atomic gases is proposed. This mechanism is based on generating longitudinal phonons as a result of parametric resonance caused by a permanent modulation of the transverse trap frequency in an elongated trap. The phonon-phonon interaction predetermines the self-consistent evolution which is completed with macroscopic population of one from all levels within the energy interval of parametric amplification. This level proves to be shifted to the edge of this interval. All other levels end the evolution with zero population.
The route toward a Bose-Einstein condensate of dipolar molecules requires the ability to efficiently associate dimers of different chemical species and transfer them to the stable rovibrational ground state. Here, we report on recent spectroscopic measurements of two weakly bound molecular levels and newly observed narrow d-wave Feshbach resonances. The data are used to improve the collisional model for the Bose-Bose mixture 41K87Rb, among the most promising candidates to create a molecular dipolar BEC.
We report on the generation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a gas of chromium atoms, which will make studies of the effects of anisotropic long-range interactions in degenerate quantum gases possible. The preparation of the chromium condensate requires novel cooling strategies that are adapted to its special electronic and magnetic properties. The final step to reach quantum degeneracy is forced evaporative cooling of 52Cr atoms within a crossed optical dipole trap. At a critical temperature of T~700nK, we observe Bose-Einstein condensation by the appearance of a two-component velocity distribution. Released from an anisotropic trap, the condensate expands with an inversion of the aspect ratio. We observe critical behavior of the condensate fraction as a function of temperature and more than 50,000 condensed 52Cr atoms.
Scattering phase shifts obtained from 87Rb Bose-gas collision experiments are used to reconstruct effective potentials resulting, self-consistently, in the same scattering events observed in the experiments at a particular energy. We have found that the interaction strength close to the origin suddenly changes from repulsion to attraction when the collision energy crosses, from below, the l=2 shape resonance position at E = 275 mikroK. This observation may be utilized in outlining future Bose-gas collision experiments.