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arXiv:cond-mat/0103437 · Physical Review Letters

Superposition of Macroscopic Numbers of Atoms and Molecules

John Calsamiglia, Matt Mackie, Kalle‐Antti Suominen

Published Sep 28, 2001• 34 citations
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Abstract

We theoretically examine photoassociation of a nonideal Bose-Einstein condensate, focusing on evidence for a macroscopic superposition of atoms and molecules. This problem raises an interest because, rather than two states of a given object, an atom-molecule system is a seemingly impossible macroscopic superposition of different objects. Nevertheless, photoassociation enables coherent intraparticle conversion, and we thereby propose a viable scheme for creating a superposition of a macroscopic number of atoms with a macroscopic number of molecules.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.87.160403

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