Abstract
We theoretically examine photoassociation of a nonideal Bose-Einstein condensate, focusing on evidence for a macroscopic superposition of atoms and molecules. This problem raises an interest because, rather than two states of a given object, an atom-molecule system is a seemingly impossible macroscopic superposition of different objects. Nevertheless, photoassociation enables coherent intraparticle conversion, and we thereby propose a viable scheme for creating a superposition of a macroscopic number of atoms with a macroscopic number of molecules.
- Received 26 March 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.160403
©2001 American Physical Society