Atom–molecule coherence in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) has been demonstrated. Sudden changes were made to the magnetic field near a Feshbach resonance such that oscillations between atomic and molecular states were excited. The frequency of these oscillations was measured over a large range of magnetic fields and was found to be in excellent quantitative agreement with the predicted energy difference between two colliding atoms and the bound molecular state. This agreement indicates that we have created a quantum superposition of atoms and diatomic molecules, which are chemically different species. 1
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of Feshbach molecules in a homogeneous Bose gas is studied at finite temperatures in a single-channel mean-field approach where the Hartree-Fock energy and pairing gap are determined self-consistently. In the molecular-BEC state, the atomic excitation is gapped and the molecular excitation is gapless. The binding energy of Feshbach molecules is shifted from the vacuum value by many-body effects. When the scattering length
as of the atoms is negative, the system is subject to mechanical collapse due to negative compressibility. The system is stable in most regions with positive scattering lengths. However, at low temperatures near the resonance, the molecular-BEC state vanishes, and the coherent mixture of atomic and molecular BEC is subject to mechanical collapse.