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arXiv:0704.0925 · Physical Review Letters

Spinor Dynamics in an Antiferromagnetic Spin-1 Condensate

Adam T. Black, E. Gómez, Lincoln D. Turner, Sebastian Jung, Paul D. Lett

Published Aug 16, 2007• 167 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We observe coherent spin oscillations in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium. The variation of the spin oscillations with magnetic field shows a clear signature of nonlinearity, in agreement with theory, which also predicts anharmonic oscillations near a critical magnetic field. Measurements of the magnetic phase diagram agree with predictions made in the approximation of a single spatial mode. The oscillation period yields the best measurement to date of the sodium spin-dependent interaction coefficient, determining that the difference between the sodium spin-dependent s-wave scattering lengths a(f=2) - a(f=0) is 2.47+/-0.27 Bohr radii.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.99.070403

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We observe coherent spin oscillations in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium. The variation of the spin oscillations with magnetic field shows a clear signature of nonlinearity, in agreement with theory, which also predicts anharmonic oscillations near a critical magnetic field. Measurements of the magnetic phase diagram agree with predictions made in the approximation of a single spatial mode. The oscillation period yields the best measurement to date of the sodium spin-dependent interaction coefficient, determining that the difference between the sodium spin-dependent s-wave scattering lengths a(f=2) - a(f=0) is 2.47+/-0.27 Bohr radii.
We experimentally study spin dynamics in a sodium antiferromagnetic spinor condensate as a result of spin-dependent interactions ccc and microwave dressing field interactions characterized by the net quadratic Zeeman effect qnet{q}_{\mathrm{net}}qnet​. In contrast to magnetic fields, microwave dressing fields enable us to access both negative and positive values of qnet{q}_{\mathrm{net}}qnet​. We find an experimental signature to determine the sign of qnet{q}_{\mathrm{net}}qnet​ and observe harmonic spin population oscillations at every qnet{q}_{\mathrm{net}}qnet​ except near each separatrix in phase space where spin oscillation period diverges. No spin domains and spatial modes are observed in our system. Our data in the negative qnet{q}_{\mathrm{net}}qnet​ region exactly resembles what is predicted to occur in a ferromagnetic spinor condensate in the positive qnet{q}_{\mathrm{net}}qnet​ region. This observation agrees with an important prediction derived from the mean-field theory: spin dynamics in spin-1 condensates substantially depends on the sign of qnet/c{q}_{\mathrm{net}}/cqnet​/c. This work uses only one atomic species to reveal mean-field spin dynamics, especially the remarkably different relationship between each separatrix and the magnetization, of spin-1 antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic spinor condensates.
We present experimental observations of coherent spin-population oscillations in a cold thermal, Bose gas of spin-1 23Na atoms. The population oscillations in a multi-spatial-mode thermal gas have the same behavior as those observed in a single-spatial-mode antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. We demonstrate this by showing that the two situations are described by the same dynamical equations, with a factor of 2 change in the spin-dependent interaction coefficient, which results from the change to particles with distinguishable momentum states in the thermal gas. We compare this theory to the measured spin population evolution after times up to a few hundreds of ms, finding quantitative agreement with the amplitude and period. We also measure the damping time of the oscillations as a function of magnetic field.
Condensates of spin-1 sodium display rich spin dynamics due to the antiferromagnetic nature of the interactions in this system. We use Faraday rotation spectroscopy to make a continuous and minimally destructive measurement of the dynamics over multiple spin oscillations on a single evolving condensate. This method provides a sharp signature to locate a magnetically tuned separatrix in phase space which depends on the net magnetization. We also observe a phase transition from a two- to a three-component condensate at a low but finite temperature using a Stern-Gerlach imaging technique. This transition should be preserved as a zero-temperature quantum phase transition.
We study experimentally the equilibrium phase diagram of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with antiferromagnetic interactions, in a regime where spin and spatial degrees of freedom are decoupled. For a given total magnetization mz{m}_{z}mz​, we observe for low magnetic fields an ``antiferromagnetic'' phase where atoms condense in the $m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ Zeeman states, and occupation of the m=0m=0m=0 state is suppressed. Conversely, for large enough magnetic fields, a phase transition to a ``broken-axisymmetry'' phase takes place: The m=0m=0m=0 component becomes populated and rises sharply above a critical field Bc(mz){B}_{c}({m}_{z})Bc​(mz​). This behavior results from the competition between antiferromagnetic spin-dependent interactions (dominant at low fields) and the quadratic Zeeman energy (dominant at large fields). We compare the measured Bc{B}_{c}Bc​ as well as the global shape of the phase diagram with mean-field theory, and find good quantitative agreement.
Compared to single-component Bose-Einstein condensates, spinor Bose-Einstein condensates display much richer dynamics. In addition to density oscillations, spinor Bose-Einstein condensates exhibit intriguing spin dynamics that is associated with population transfer between different hyperfine components. This paper analyzes the validity of the widely employed single-mode approximation when describing the spin dynamics in response to a quench of the system Hamiltonian. The single-mode approximation assumes that the different hyperfine states all share the same time-independent spatial mode. This implies that the resulting spin Hamiltonian only depends on the spin interaction strength and not on the density interaction strength. Taking the spinor sodium Bose-Einstein condensate in the f=1f=1f=1 hyperfine manifold as an example and working within the mean-field theory framework, it is found numerically that the single-mode approximation misses, in some parameter regimes, intricate details of the spin and spatial dynamics. We develop a physical picture that explains the observed phenomenon. Moreover, using that the population oscillations described by the single-mode approximation enter into the effective potential felt by the mean-field spinor, we derive a semiquantitative condition for when dynamical mean-field induced corrections to the single-mode approximation are relevant. Our mean-field results have implications for a variety of published and planned experimental studies.
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is a phenomenon in which identical bosons occupy the same quantum state below a certain critical temperature. A hallmark of BEC is the coherence between particles every particle shares the same quantum wavefunction and phase. This coherence has been demonstrated for the external (motional) degrees of freedom of the atomic condensates by interfering two condensates. In this thesis, the coherence is shown to extend to the internal spin degrees of freedom of a spin-1 Bose gas evidenced by the observed coherent and reversible spin-changing collisions. The observed coherent dynamics are analogous to Josephson oscillations in weakly connected superconductors and represent a type of matter-wave four-wave mixing. Control of the coherent evolution of the system using magnetic fields is also demonstrated. The studies on spinor condensates begin by creating spinor condensates directly using all-optical approaches that were first developed in our laboratory. All-optical formation of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in 1D optical lattice and single focus trap geometries are developed and presented. These techniques offer considerable flexibility and speed compared to magnetic trap approaches, and the trapping potential can be essentially spin-independent and are ideally suited for studying spinor condensates. Using condensates with well-defined initial non-equilibrium spin configuration, spin mixing of F = 1 and F = 2 spinor condensates of rubidium-87 atoms confined in an optical trap is observed. The equilibrium spin configuration in the F = 1 manifold confirms that 87Rb is ferromagnetic. The coherent spinor dynamics are demonstrated by initiating spin mixing deterministically with a non-stationary spin population configuration. Finally, the interplay between the coherent spin mixing and spatial dynamics in spin-1 condensates with ferromagnetic interactions is investigated.