Abstract
We study the growth of an elongated phase-fluctuating condensate from a nonequilibrium thermal cloud in the axially hydrodynamic regime, obtained by shock cooling. Quantitative measurements using momentum Bragg spectroscopy reveal the evolution of the phase coherence as the condensate grows to equilibrium. We find no delay between the population growth and the development of the phase coherence. We also compare the growth of the condensate with numerical simulations based on kinetic theory, revealing quantitative agreement except for an unexplained time delay.
- Received 21 December 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.75.011602
©2007 American Physical Society