Direct study of quantum statistics in a degenerate Bose gas

Mark G. Raizen

Franz Mohling

Chih‐Sung Chuu, Florian Schreck, Todd P. Meyrath +3 more

We report the direct observation of sub-Poissonian number fluctuation for a degenerate Bose gas confined in an optical trap. Reduction of number fluctuations below the Poissonian limit is observed for average numbers that range from 300 to 60 atoms.

William Band

Juha Javanainen

The spectrum of light scattered from a Bose gas is studied in the limit of large detuning. At low density the spectrum is a direct replica of the velocity distribution of the atoms. In a degenerate gas the spectrum may acquire extra structure, reflecting the Bose-Einstein statistics of the atoms. In the presence of a Bose condensate a characteristic two-peak spectrum develops.

Mark G. Raizen

We have observed atomic number squeezing by direct atom counting, and our results are consistent with many-body number state generation. Progress towards controlled entanglement and few-body tunneling will be discussed.