Controlled Collapse of a Bose-Einstein Condensate

J. L. Roberts, N. R. Claussen, S. L. Cornish, E. A. Donley, E. A. Cornell, and C. E. Wieman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4211 – Published 7 May 2001
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Abstract

The point of instability of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) due to attractive interactions was studied. Stable 85Rb BECs were created and then caused to collapse by slowly changing the atom-atom interaction from repulsive to attractive using a Feshbach resonance. At a critical value, an abrupt transition was observed in which atoms were ejected from the condensate. By measuring the onset of this transition as a function of number and attractive interaction strength, we determined the stability condition to be N|a|aho=0.459±0.012±0.054, slightly lower than the predicted value of 0.574.

  • Received 22 January 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4211

©2001 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. L. Roberts, N. R. Claussen, S. L. Cornish, E. A. Donley, E. A. Cornell*, and C. E. Wieman

  • JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440
  • and the Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440

  • *Quantum Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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Vol. 86, Iss. 19 — 7 May 2001

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