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arXiv:cond-mat/9708089 · Physical Review A

Macroscopic superpositions of Bose-Einstein condensates

Janne Ruostekoski, Matthew J. Collett, Robert Graham, Daniel F. Walls

Published Jan 1, 1998• 89 citations
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Abstract

We consider two dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates with opposite velocities from which a monochromatic light field detuned far from the resonance of the optical transition is coherently scattered. In the thermodynamic limit, when the relative fluctuations of the atom number difference between the two condensates vanish, the relative phase between the Bose-Einstein condensates may be established in a superposition state by detections of spontaneously scattered photons, even though the condensates have initially well-defined atom numbers. For a finite system, stochastic simulations show that the measurements of the scattered photons lead to a randomly drifting relative phase and drive the condensates into entangled superpositions of number states. This is because according to Bose-Einstein statistics the scattering to an already occupied state is enhanced.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.57.511

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We consider two dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates with opposite velocities from which a monochromatic light field detuned far from the resonance of the optical transition is coherently scattered. In the thermodynamic limit, when the relative fluctuations of the atom number difference between the two condensates vanish, the relative phase between the Bose-Einstein condensates may be established in a superposition state by detections of spontaneously scattered photons, even though the condensates have initially well-defined atom numbers. For a finite system, stochastic simulations show that the measurements of the scattered photons lead to a randomly drifting relative phase and drive the condensates into entangled superpositions of number states. This is because according to Bose-Einstein statistics the scattering to an already occupied state is enhanced.
We study the interaction of light with two Bose-Einstein condensates as an open quantum system. The two overlapping condensates occupy two different Zeeman sublevels and two driving light beams induce a coherent quantum tunneling between the condensates. We derive the master equation for the system. It is shown via stochastic simulations that the measurements of spontaneously scattered photons establish the relative phase between two Bose-Einstein condensates, even though the condensates are initially in pure number states. These measurements are nondestructive for the condensates, because only light is scattered and no atoms are removed from the system. Due to macroscopic quantum interference the detection rate of photons depends strongly on the relative phase between the condensates. This may provide a way to distinguish between initial number states and initial symmetry-breaking states of the condensates.
Summary form only given.We consider two overlapping and optically thin dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates occupying two different Zeeman sublevels. We propose an optical method for increasing the number of condensate atoms. Two laser beams drive Raman transitions between the Zeeman states and induce a coherent quantum tunneling between the Bose-Einstein condensates. The scattering of photons is dominantly coherent and in the forward direction due to the Bose enhancement. This corresponds to the scattering of atoms between the two condensates. Some laser-driven Raman transitions also scatter atoms between the condensate and noncondensate atom fractions. For a range of condensate phase differences there is destructive quantum interference of the amplitudes for scattering atoms out of the condensates. Because the total atom scattering rate into the condensates is unaffected the condensates grow. This mechanism is analogous to that responsible for optical lasing without inversion, and it may find application as a pump for an atom laser.
We calculate the spectrum of the scattered light from quantum degenerate atomic gases obeying Bose-Einstein statistics. The atoms are assumed to occupy two ground states, which are optically coupled through a common excited state by two low-intensity off-resonant light beams. In the presence of a Bose condensate in both ground states, the atoms may exhibit light-induced oscillations between the two condensates analogous to the Josephson effect. The spectrum of the scattered light is calculated in the limit of a low oscillation frequency. In the spectrum we are able to observe qualitative features depending on the phase difference between the macroscopic wave functions of the two condensates. Thus, our optical scheme could possibly be used as an experimental realization of the spontaneous breakdown of the U(1) gauge symmetry in the Bose-Einstein condensation.
We study the interference of two Bose-Einstein condensates within an elementary model. The detection of the atoms is modeled by adapting the standard theory of photon detection. Even though the condensates are taken to be in number states with no phases whatsoever, our stochastic simulations of atom detection produce interference patterns as would also be predicted on the basis of the phases of the macroscopic wave functions describing the condensates. In statistical mechanics terms, we have devised a method to analyze spontaneous symmetry breaking for an arbitrary (not necessarily larger) number of particles.
We propose a light-scattering scheme to measure the relative phase of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and its diffusion rate. The proposal relies on the existence of two independent condensates coupled to a common excited state. To this end, we consider a two-well ground-state potential together with excited-state trap wave functions that extend over the whole region. When the first trap is driven by a weak monochromatic laser field, the light scattered from the second trap has a nonzero mean-electric field amplitude with a phase shift proportional to the difference of the condensate phases. When both condensates are driven, the phases of the two laser fields can be adjusted to cancel the scattering completely by a quantum interference. The particular value of the laser phase difference that gives zero scattering determines the relative phase of the two condensates.
We study an elementary model of two tunneling Bose-Einstein condensates with an atom detector in one of the traps. Stochastic simulations of atom detection in one trap show an oscillation of atom number between traps even though the condensates are initially in equal number Fock states. The oscillation has a random amplitude depending on the phase difference between the condensates, which coincides with that given by a spontaneously broken symmetry argument. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.