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arXiv:physics/9809017 · Physical Review Letters

Bose-Einstein Condensation of Atomic Hydrogen

Dale G. Fried, T. C. Killian, Lorenz Willmann, David Landhuis, Stephen C. Moss, Daniel Kleppner, Thomas J. Greytak

Published Nov 2, 1998• 750 citations
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Abstract

We report observation of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of a trapped, dilute gas of atomic hydrogen. The condensate and normal gas are studied by two-photon spectroscopy of the $1S$- $2S$ transition. Interactions among the atoms produce a shift of the resonance frequency proportional to density. The condensate is clearly distinguished by its large frequency shift. The peak condensate density is $4.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{15}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, corresponding to a condensate population of ${10}^{9}$ atoms. The BEC transition occurs at about $T\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}50\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$ and $n\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}1.8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{14}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.81.3811

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We report observation of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of a trapped, dilute gas of atomic hydrogen. The condensate and normal gas are studied by two-photon spectroscopy of the 1S1S1S- 2S2S2S transition. Interactions among the atoms produce a shift of the resonance frequency proportional to density. The condensate is clearly distinguished by its large frequency shift. The peak condensate density is 4.8\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi1.1\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1015cm\ensuremath−34.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{15}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}4.8\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi1.1\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1015cm\ensuremath−3, corresponding to a condensate population of 109{10}^{9}109 atoms. The BEC transition occurs at about T=50\ensuremathμKT\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}50\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}T=50\ensuremathμK and n=1.8\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1014cm\ensuremath−3n\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}1.8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{14}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}n=1.8\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1014cm\ensuremath−3.
Atomic hydrogen has been loaded into a 1-K deep magnetic trap through the use of a dilution refrigerator. Evaporative cooling has been used to cool the trapped hydrogen into the submillikelvin temperature regime. These techniques have produced a sample with density of 8 × 1013 cm-3 at a temperature of 100 μK. At this density a transition to a Bose-Einstein condensate is predicted to occur at a temperature of 30 μK. These results have been obtained with a magnetic trap that has been constructed to accommodate upcoming experiments based on laser spectroscopy of the 1S-2S two photon transition in the trapped hydrogen. A frequency doubled narrow linewidth cw dye laser system has been constructed to excite the 1S-2S transition. The excitation will be detected by the observation of electric field-induced Lyman-alpha fluorescence. The optical detection system should yield improved sample density and temperature diagnostic capabilities that will facilitate a closer approach to the quantum degenerate regime. Additionally the cold, confined hydrogen gas offers the possibility of improving the level of resolution of Doppler-free hydrogen 1S-2S laser spectroscopy by several orders of magnitude.
Summary form only given. The atomic hydrogen BEC is of a rather different kind from those prevalent in the now almost ubiquitous alkali-metal vapor condensates. The characteristic features of the hydrogen system are: 1. The condensate fraction is rather low, typically about 5%; 2. The number of atoms in the condensate is nevertheless very large, /spl ap/10/sup 9/, compared to /spl ap/10/sup 6/ for Na condensates and /spl ap/10/sup 5/ for Rb condensates; 3. The hydrogen condensate at MIT is a hot condensate formed with radial and axial trap frequencies; giving a trap aspect ratio of an almost one-dimensional condensate. 4. Because of the rather small scattering length of hydrogen, the condensate density is very much higher than in the alkali-metal condensates, and experimentally is measured spectroscopically using the cold-collision frequency shift for the 1S-2S two-photon transition. 5. The condensate would decay rather rapidly by two body dipolar relaxation processes, but is maintained by being fed from the very large number of noncondensate atoms. The system is thus not in thermodynamic equilibrium.
Using magnetically trapped atomic hydrogen as an example, we investigate the prospects of achieving Bose–Einstein condensation in a dilute Bose gas. We show that, if the gas is quenched sufficiently far into the critical region of the phase transition, the typical time scale for the nucleation of the condensate density is short and of O(ħ/k B T c ). As a result we find that thermalizing elastic collisions act as a bottleneck for the formation of the condensate. In the case of doubly polarized atomic hydrogen these occur much more frequently than the inelastic collisions leading to decay and we are led to the conclusion that Bose–Einstein condensation can indeed be achieved within the lifetime of the gas. Introduction In the last few years it has been clearly demonstrated that not only charged ions but also neutral atoms can be conveniently trapped and cooled by means of electro-magnetic fields. Although the physics of the various ingenious scenarios developed to accomplish this is already interesting in itself [1], the opportunities offered by an atomic gas sample at very low temperatures are exciting in their own right. Examples in this respect are the performance of high-precision spectroscopy, the search for a violation of CP invariance by measuring the electric dipole moment of atomic cesium [2], the construction of an improved time standard based on an atomic fountain [3] and the achievement of Bose–Einstein condensation in a weakly interacting gas.
Using magnetically trapped atomic hydrogen as an example, we investigate the prospects of achieving Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute Bose gas. We show that, if the gas is quenched sufficiently far into the critical region of the phase transition, the typical time scale for the nucleation of the condensate density is short and of O(ℏ/kBTc)O(\hbar/k_{B}T_{c})O(ℏ/kB​Tc​). As a result we find that thermalizing elastic collisions act as a bottleneck for the formation of the condensate. In the case of doubly-polarized atomic hydrogen these occur much more frequently than the inelastic collisions leading to decay and we are lead to the conclusion that Bose-Einstein condensation can indeed be achieved within the lifetime of the gas.
The recent report of the observation of Bose-Einstein condensation in atomic Hydrogen, characterized by an anomalous density spectrum, is shown to be in agreement with the prediction of the existence of two condensates for temperatures lower than a well defined temperature (which for Hydrogen is $ 105~ \mu K $), based on the QED coherent interaction in a gas of ultracold atoms at a density n>n0(n0=(1/λ)3,λn > n_0 (n_0=(1/\lambda)^3, \lambdan>n0​(n0​=(1/λ)3,λ being the wave-length of the e.m. modes resonantly coupled to the Hydrogen atoms)