Partial transfer absorption imaging (PTAI) of ultracold atoms allows for repeated and minimally-destructive measurements of an atomic ensemble. Here, we present a reconstruction technique based on PTAI that can be used to piece together the non-unifo
rm spatial profile of high-density atomic samples using multiple measurements. We achieved a thirty-fold increase of the effective dynamic range of our imaging, and were able to image otherwise saturated samples with unprecedented accuracy of both low- and high-density features.
Using a multiple-image reconstruction method applied to a harmonically trapped Bose gas, we determine the equation of state of uniform matter across the critical transition point, within the local density approximation. Our experimental results provi
de the canonical description of pressure as a function of the specific volume, emphasizing the dramatic deviations from the ideal Bose gas behavior caused by interactions. They also provide clear evidence for the non-monotonic behavior with temperature of the chemical potential, which is a consequence of superfluidity. The measured thermodynamic quantities are compared to mean-field predictions available for the interacting Bose gas. The limits of applicability of the local density approximation near the critical point are also discussed, focusing on the behavior of the isothermal compressibility.
We experimentally investigate the dynamics of spin solitary waves (magnetic solitons) in a harmonically trapped, binary superfluid mixture. We measure the in-situ density of each pseudospin component and their relative local phase via an interferomet
ric technique we developed, and as such, fully characterise the magnetic solitons while they undergo oscillatory motion in the trap. Magnetic solitons exhibit non-dispersive, dissipationless long-time dynamics. By imprinting multiple magnetic solitons in our ultracold gas sample, we engineer binary collisions between solitons of either same or opposite magnetisation and map out their trajectories.
The spin dynamics of a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensed binary mixture of sodium atoms is experimentally investigated at finite temperature. In the collisional regime the motion of the thermal component is shown to be damped because of sp
in drag, while the two condensates exhibit a counter flow oscillation without friction, thereby providing direct evidence for spin superfluidity. Results are also reported in the collisionless regime where the spin components of both the condensate and thermal part oscillate without damping, their relative motion being driven by a mean field effect. We also measure the static polarizability of the condensed and thermal parts and we find a large increase of the condensate polarizability with respect to the T=0 value, in agreement with the predictions of theory.
