Spatial fragmentation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential

R. W. Spekkens and J. E. Sipe
Phys. Rev. A 59, 3868 – Published 1 May 1999
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Abstract

We present a theoretical study of the ground state of a Bose-Einstein condensate with repulsive interparticle interactions in a double-well potential, using a restricted variational principle. Within such an approach, there is a transition from a single condensate to a fragmented condensate as the strength of the central barrier of the potential is increased. We determine the nature of this transition through an approximate analytic solution as well as a numerical solution of our model, in the regime where the interparticle interactions can be treated perturbatively. The degree of fragmentation of the condensate is characterized by the degrees of first- and second-order spatial coherence across the barrier.

  • Received 30 October 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.59.3868

©1999 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

R. W. Spekkens and J. E. Sipe

  • Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A7

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Vol. 59, Iss. 5 — May 1999

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