Precision measurement with an optical Josephson junction

We study a new type of Josephson device, the so-called "optical Josephson junction" as proposed in Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 95}, 170402 (2005). Two condensates are optically coupled through a waveguide by a pair of Bragg beams. This optical Josephson junction is analogous to the usual Josephson junction of two condensates weakly coupled via tunneling. We discuss the use of this optical Josephson junction, for making precision measurements.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices

In this paper we examine the excitations observable in atoms confined in an optical lattice around the superfluid-insulator transition. We use increases in the number variance of atoms, subsequent to tilting the lattice as the primary diagnostic of excitations in the lattice. We show that this locally determined quantity should be a robust indicator of coherence changes in the atoms observed in recent experiments. This was found to hold for commensurate or non-commensurate fillings of the lattice, implying our results will hold for a wide range of physical cases. Our results are in good agreement with the quantitative factors of recent experiments. We do, howevers, find extra features in the excitation spectra. The variation of the spectra with the duration of the perturbation also turns out to be an interesting diagnostic of atom dynamics.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, using Revtex4; changes to version 2: new data and substantial revision of tex

Collective excitations of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

We apply linear-response analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to obtain the excitation frequencies of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a time-averaged orbiting potential trap. Our calculated values are in excellent agreement with those observed in a recent experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 2 Postscript figures, uses psbox.tex for automatic figure inclusion. More info at http://amo.phy.gasou.edu/bec.htm

Mass fractionation of the lunar surface by solar wind sputtering

The sputtering of the lunar surface by the solar wind is examined as a possible mechanism of mass fractionation. Simple arguments based on current theories of sputtering and the ballistics of the sputtered atoms suggest that most ejected atoms will have sufficiently high energy to escape lunar gravity. However, the fraction of atoms which falls back to the surface is enriched in the heavier atomic components relative to the lighter ones. This material is incorporated into the heavily radiation-damaged outer surfaces of grains where it is subject to resputtering. Over the course of several hundred years an equilibrium surface layer, enriched in heavier atoms, is found to form. The dependence of the calculated results upon the sputtering rate and on the details of the energy spectrum of sputtered particles is investigated. It is concluded that mass fractionation by solar wind sputtering is likely to be an important phenomenon on the lunar surface

Modeling the non-recycled Fermi gamma-ray pulsar population

We use Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detections and upper limits on non-recycled pulsars obtained from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) to constrain how the gamma-ray luminosity L depends on the period P and the period derivative \dot{P}. We use a Bayesian analysis to calculate a best-fit luminosity law, or dependence of L on P and \dot{P}, including different methods for modeling the beaming factor. An outer gap (OG) magnetosphere geometry provides the best-fit model, which is L \propto P^{-a} \dot{P}^{b} where a=1.36\pm0.03 and b=0.44\pm0.02, similar to but not identical to the commonly assumed L \propto \sqrt{\dot{E}} \propto P^{-1.5} \dot{P}^{0.5}. Given upper limits on gamma-ray fluxes of currently known radio pulsars and using the OG model, we find that about 92% of the radio-detected pulsars have gamma-ray beams that intersect our line of sight. By modeling the misalignment of radio and gamma-ray beams of these pulsars, we find an average gamma-ray beaming solid angle of about 3.7{\pi} for the OG model, assuming a uniform beam. Using LAT-measured diffuse fluxes, we place a 2{\sigma} upper limit on the average braking index and a 2{\sigma} lower limit on the average surface magnetic field strength of the pulsar population of 3.8 and 3.2 X 10^{10} G, respectively. We then predict the number of non-recycled pulsars detectable by the LAT based on our population model. Using the two-year sensitivity, we find that the LAT is capable of detecting emission from about 380 non-recycled pulsars, including 150 currently identified radio pulsars. Using the expected five-year sensitivity, about 620 non-recycled pulsars are detectable, including about 220 currently identified radio pulsars. We note that these predictions significantly depend on our model assumptions.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by ApJ on 8 September 201

Entanglement between atomic condensates in an optical lattice: effects of interaction range

We study the area-dependent entropy and two-site entanglement for two state Bose-Einstein condensates in a 2D optical lattice. We consider the case where the array of two component condensates behave like an ensemble of spin-half particles with the interaction to its nearest neighbors and next nearest neighbors. We show how the Hamiltonian of their Bose-Einstein condensate lattice with nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor interactions can be mapped into a harmonic lattice. We use this to determine the entropy and entanglement content of the lattice.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, title change

Creation of macroscopic superposition states from arrays of Bose-Einstein condensates

We consider how macroscopic quantum superpositions may be created from arrays of Bose-Einstein condensates. We study a system of three condensates in Fock states, all with the same number of atoms and show that this has the form of a highly entangled superposition of different quasi-momenta. We then show how, by partially releasing these condensates and detecting an interference pattern where they overlap, it is possible to create a macroscopic superposition of different relative phases for the remaining portions of the condensates. We discuss methods for confirming these superpositions.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Classical field techniques for condensates in one-dimensional rings at finite temperatures

For a condensate in a one-dimensional ring geometry, we compare the thermodynamic properties of three conceptually different classical field techniques: stochastic dynamics, microcanonical molecular dynamics, and the classical field method. Starting from non-equilibrium initial conditions, all three methods approach steady states whose distribution and correlation functions are in excellent agreement with an exact evaluation of the partition function in the high-temperature limit. Our study helps to establish these various classical field techniques as powerful non-perturbative tools for systems at finite temperatures.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures; minor changes, one reference adde