2 research outputs found
Measurement of the Temperature Dependence of the Casimir-Polder Force
We report on the first measurement of a temperature dependence of the
Casimir-Polder force. This measurement was obtained by positioning a nearly
pure 87-Rb Bose-Einstein condensate a few microns from a dielectric substrate
and exciting its dipole oscillation. Changes in the collective oscillation
frequency of the magnetically trapped atoms result from spatial variations in
the surface-atom force. In our experiment, the dielectric substrate is heated
up to 605 K, while the surrounding environment is kept near room temperature
(310 K). The effect of the Casimir-Polder force is measured to be nearly 3
times larger for a 605 K substrate than for a room-temperature substrate,
showing a clear temperature dependence in agreement with theory.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, published in Physical Review Letter
Diffuse reflection of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a rough evanescent wave mirror
We present experimental results showing the diffuse reflection of a
Bose-Einstein condensate from a rough mirror, consisting of a dielectric
substrate supporting a blue-detuned evanescent wave. The scattering is
anisotropic, more pronounced in the direction of the surface propagation of the
evanescent wave. These results agree very well with theoretical predictions.Comment: submitted to J Phys B, 10 pages, 6 figure