Abstract
We derive a model to describe decoherence of atomic clouds in atom-chip traps taking the excited states of the trapping potential into account. We use this model to investigate decoherence for a single trapping well and for a pair of trapping wells that form the two arms of an atom interferometer. Including the discrete spectrum of the trapping potential gives rise to a decoherence mechanism with a decoherence rate that scales like with the distance from the trap minimum to the wire.
- Received 13 May 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.68.043618
©2003 American Physical Society