arXiv:1308.2095 · Physical Review Letters
Observation of Transverse Bose-Einstein Condensation via Hanbury Brown–Twiss Correlations
RuGway Wu, Andrew Manning, Sean S. Hodgman, R. G. Dall, Andrew G. Truscott, Timothy O. Lamberton, Karen V. Kheruntsyan
Abstract
A fundamental property of a three-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate is long-range coherence; however, in systems of lower dimensionality, not only is the long-range coherence destroyed but additional states of matter are predicted to exist. One such state is a "transverse condensate," first predicted by van Druten and Ketterle [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 549 (1997)], in which the gas condenses in the transverse dimensions of a highly anisotropic trap while remaining thermal in the longitudinal dimension. Here, we detect the transition from a three-dimensional thermal gas to a gas undergoing transverse condensation by probing Hanbury Brown-Twiss correlations.