Phase resolution limit in macroscopic interference between Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the competition between phase definition and quantum phase fluctuations in interference experiments between independently formed Bose condensates. While phase-sensitive detection of atoms makes the phase progressively better defined, interactions tend to randomize it faster as the uncertainty in the relative particle number grows. A steady state is reached when the two effects cancel each other. Then the phase resolution saturates to a value that grows with the ratio between the interaction strength and the atom detection rate, and the average phase and number begin to fluctuate classically. We discuss how our study applies to both recently performed and possible future experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Non-destructive optical measurement of relative phase between two Bose condensates

We study the interaction of light with two Bose condensates as an open quantum system. The two overlapping condensates occupy two different Zeeman sublevels and two driving light beams induce a coherent quantum tunneling between the condensates. We derive the master equation for the system. It is shown that stochastic simulations of the measurements of spontaneously scattered photons establish the relative phase between two Bose condensates, even though the condensates are initially in pure number states. These measurements are non-destructive for the condensates, because only light is scattered, but no atoms are removed from the system. Due to the macroscopic quantum interference the detection rate of photons depends substantially on the relative phase between the condensates. This may provide a way to distinguish, whether the condensates are initially in number states or in coherent states.Comment: 26 pages, RevTex, 8 postscript figures, 1 MacBinary eps-figur

Optical linewidth of a low density Fermi-Dirac gas

We study propagation of light in a Fermi-Dirac gas at zero temperature. We analytically obtain the leading density correction to the optical linewidth. This correction is a direct consequence of the quantum statistical correlations of atomic positions that modify the optical interactions between the atoms at small interatomic separations. The gas exhibits a dramatic line narrowing already at very low densities.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Measurements of Relative Phase in Binary Mixtures of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We have measured the relative phase of two Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) using a time-domain separated-oscillatory-field condensate interferometer. A single two-photon coupling pulse prepares the double condensate system with a well-defined relative phase; at a later time, a second pulse reads out the phase difference accumulated between the two condensates. We find that the accumulated phase difference reproduces from realization to realization of the experiment, even after the individual components have spatially separated and their relative center-of-mass motion has damped.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Probing quantum phases of ultracold atoms in optical lattices by transmission spectra in cavity QED

Studies of ultracold atoms in optical lattices link various disciplines, providing a playground where fundamental quantum many-body concepts, formulated in condensed-matter physics, can be tested in much better controllable atomic systems, e.g., strongly correlated phases, quantum information processing. Standard methods to measure quantum properties of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are based on matter-wave interference between atoms released from traps which destroys the system. Here we propose a nondestructive method based on optical measurements, and prove that atomic statistics can be mapped on transmission spectra of a high-Q cavity. This can be extremely useful for studying phase transitions between Mott insulator and superfluid states, since various phases show qualitatively distinct light scattering. Joining the paradigms of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) and ultracold gases will enable conceptually new investigations of both light and matter at ultimate quantum levels, which only recently became experimentally possible. Here we predict effects accessible in such novel setups.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Dynamic depletion in a Bose condensate via a sudden increase of the scattering length

We examine the time-dependent quantum depletion of a trapped Bose condensate arising from a rapid increase of the scattering length. Our solution indicates that a significant buildup of incoherent atoms can occur within a characteristic time short compared with the harmonic trap period. We discuss how the depletion density and the characteristic time depend on the physical parameters of the condensate

Pumping two dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates with Raman light scattering

We propose an optical method for increasing the number of atoms in a pair of dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates. The method uses laser-driven Raman transitions which scatter atoms between the condensate and non-condensate atom fractions. For a range of condensate phase differences there is destructive quantum interference of the amplitudes for scattering atoms out of the condensates. Because the total atom scattering rate into the condensates is unaffected the condensates grow. This mechanism is analogous to that responsible for optical lasing without inversion. Growth using macroscopic quantum interference may find application as a pump for an atom laser.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Talbot Oscillations and Periodic Focusing in a One-Dimensional Condensate

An exact theory for the density of a one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate with hard core particle interactions is developed in second quantization and applied to the scattering of the condensate by a spatially periodic impulse potential. The boson problem is mapped onto a system of free fermions obeying the Pauli exclusion principle to facilitate the calculation. The density exhibits a spatial focusing of the probability density as well as a periodic self-imaging in time, or Talbot effect. Furthermore, the transition from single particle to many body effects can be measured by observing the decay of the modulated condensate density pattern in time. The connection of these results to classical and atom optical phase gratings is made explicit