Interaction induced trapping and pulsed emission of a magnetically insensitive Bose-Einstein Condensate
Stephan Middelkamp, Igor Lesanovsky, Peter Schmelcher
Abstract
PACS 67.85.-d – Ultracold gases, trapped gases Abstract.- We demonstrate that atoms in magnetically insensitive hyperfine states (m=0) can be trapped efficiently by a Bose-Einstein Condensate of the same atomic species occupying a different hyperfine state. The latter is trapped magnetically. Hyperfine state changing collisions, and therefore loss of the trapped (m=0) atoms, are shown to be strongly inhibited in case of a low density of the confined atomic cloud. We monitor the transition from a ’soft ’ to a ’hard’ effective potential by studying the backaction of the trapped (m=0) atoms onto the condensate which provides their confinement. The controlled outcoupling of the trapped atoms by shaping the condensate’s wavefunction is explored. We observe a pulsed emission of atoms from the trapping region reminiscent of an atom laser. Trapped ultracold atomic gases offer outstanding possibilities to model complex quantum systems. A paradigm is the Mott-Insulator phase transition demonstrated with atoms trapped in a lattice potential [1]. Thus, a key ingredient for advancing the possibilities to explore the