Bose-Einstein Condensation at a Free Helium Surface

A. S. Tychkov

W. Vassen

H. R. Glyde

Peter V. Pikhitsa, Peter Pikhitsa

A Bose-Einstein condensate of bosons with repulsion, described by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and restricted by an impenetrable “hard wall” (either rigid or flexible) which is intended to suppress the “snake instability” inherent for dark solitons, is considered. The Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations to find the spectra of gapless Bogoliubov excitations localized near the “domain wall” and therefore split from the bulk excitation spectrum of the Bose-Einstein condensate are solved. The “domain wall” may model either the surface of liquid helium or of a strongly trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. The dispersion relations for the surface excitations are found for all wavenumbers along the surface up to the ”free-particle” behavior , the latter was shown to be bound to the “hard wall” with some “universal” energy .

Isaac F. Silvera, Victor V. Goldman

The energy of interacting spin-polarized atomic hydrogen (${\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$) on a helium surface and the density dependence of the adsorption energy have been calculated, permitting a realistic determination of the adsorption isotherms. Surface interactions are shown to allow Bose-Einstein condensation in the gas. At the Bose-Einstein condensation the surface coverage attains a maximum which is essentially independent of the isotherm temperature. Also calculated is the stability condition for surfaces in magnetic fields. Easily met requirements are found.

Wolfgang Ketterle