European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC)
Bose-Einstein condensates in spatially periodic potentials
Kirstine Berg‐Sørensen
Abstract
Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped dilute gases1,1,3 was observed only recently. Nevertheless, the experimental developments in this field have advanced rapidly, and the properties of condensates in different circumstances have become a matter of practical interest. In this work we study the influence of a spatially periodic external potential on the properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate, as reported elsewhere in more detail4. Such a periodic potential may be induced by a far-off resonant laser field, and with present trapped condensates it is possible to have a condensate extending over many periods of such a field. The proposed periodic potential could be realized by a simple rearrangement of the laser field in the experiments with an optically trapped condensate5.