Multistep Bose-Einstein condensation of an ideal Bose gas in anisotropic harmonic atom traps is studied. In the presence of strong anisotropy realized by the different trap frequency in each direction, finite size effect dictates a series of dimensional crossovers into lower-dimensional excitations. Two-step condensation and the dynamical reduction of the effective dimension can appear in three separate steps. When the multistep behavior occurs, the occupation number of atoms excited in each dimension is shown to behave similarly as a function of the temperature.
We investigate theoretically an original route to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation using dark power-law laser traps. We propose to create such traps with two crossing blue-detuned Laguerre-Gaussian optical beams. Controlling their azimuthal order $\ell$ allows for the exploration of a multitude of power-law trapping situations in one, two and three dimensions, ranging from the usual harmonic trap to an almost square-well potential, in which a quasi-homogeneous Bose gas can be formed. The usual cigar-shaped and disk-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates obtained in a 1D or 2D harmonic trap take th…
We report a novel approach for preparing a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of $^{87}$Rb atoms using electro-pneumatically driven transfer of atoms into a Quadrupole-Ioffe magnetic trap (QUIC Trap). More than 5$\times$$10^{8}$ atoms from a Magneto-optical trap are loaded into a spherical quadrupole trap and then these atoms are transferred into an Ioffe trap by moving the Ioffe coil towards the center of the quadrupole coil, thereby, changing the distance between quadrupole trap center and the Ioffe coil. The transfer efficiency is more than 80 \%. This approach is different from a conventional …
We obtain second and higher order corrections to the shift of the Bose-Einstein critical temperature due to finite-size effects. The confinement is that of a harmonic trap with general anisotropy. Numerical work shows the high accuracy of our expressions. We draw attention to a subtlety involved in the consideration of experimental values of the critical temperature in connection with analytical expressions for the finite-size corrections.
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of an ideal gas is investigated, beyond the thermodynamic limit, for a finite number $N$ of particles trapped in a generic three-dimensional power-law potential. We derive an analytical expression for the condensation temperature $T_c$ in terms of a power series in $x_0=ε_0/k_BT_c$, where $ε_0$ denotes the zero-point energy of the trapping potential. This expression, which applies in cartesian, cylindrical and spherical power-law traps, is given analytically at infinite order. It is also given numerically for specific potential shapes as an expansion in powers …
In this reply we show that the criticisms raised by J. Noronha are based on a misapplication of the model we have proposed in [A. Jaouadi, M. Telmini, E. Charron, Phys. Rev. A 83, 023616 (2011)]. Here we explicitly discuss the range of validity of the approximations underlying our analytical model. We also show that the discrepancies pointed out for very small atom numbers and for very anisotropic traps are not surprising since these conditions exceed the range of validity of the model.
Generalized Bose-Einstein condensation (GBEC) involves condensates appearing simultaneously in multiple states. We review examples of the three types in an ideal Bose gas with different geometries. In Type I there is a discrete number of quantum states each having macroscopic occupation; Type II has condensation into a continuous band of states, with each state having macroscopic occupation; in Type III each state is microscopically occupied while the entire condensate band is macroscopically occupied. We begin by discussing Type I or "normal" BEC into a single state for an isotropic harmonic …
We have observed Bose-Einstein condensation of an atomic gas in the (quasi-)uniform three-dimensional potential of an optical box trap. Condensation is seen in the bimodal momentum distribution and the anisotropic time-of-flight expansion of the condensate. The critical temperature agrees with the theoretical prediction for a uniform Bose gas. The momentum distribution of our non-condensed quantum-degenerate gas is also clearly distinct from the conventional case of a harmonically trapped sample and close to the expected distribution in a uniform system. We confirm the coherence of our condens…
The Kibble-Zurek mechanism is applied to the spontaneous formation of vortices in a harmonically trapped thermal gas following a temperature quench through the critical value for Bose-Einstein condensation. While in the homogeneous scenario vortex nucleation is always expected, we show that it can be completely suppressed in the presence of the confinement potential, whenever the speed of the spatial front undergoing condensation is lower than a threshold velocity. Otherwise, the interplay between the geometry and causality leads to different scaling laws for the density of vortices as a funct…
Interferometric measurements with matter waves are established techniques for sensitive gravimetry, rotation sensing, and measurement of surface interactions, but compact interferometers will require techniques based on trapped geometries. In a step towards the realization of matter wave interferometers in toroidal geometries, we produce a large, smooth ring trap for Bose-Einstein condensates using rapidly scanned time-averaged dipole potentials. The trap potential is smoothed by using the atom distribution as input to an optical intensity correction algorithm. Smooth rings with a diameter up …
Interference of two independently prepared ideal Bose gases is discussed, on the basis of the idea of measurement-induced interference: even if the number of each gas is individually fixed finite and the symmetry of the system is not broken, an interference pattern is observed on each single snapshot. The key role is played by the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, which leads to an oscillating pattern of the cloud of identical atoms. Then, how essential is the Bose-Einstein condensation to the interference? We describe the ideal Bose gases trapped respectively in two spatially separated 3D harmo…
