5 research outputs found
Non-diffusive phase spreading of a Bose-Einstein condensate at finite temperature
We show that the phase of a condensate in a finite temperature gas spreads
linearly in time at long times rather than in a diffusive way. This result is
supported by classical field simulations, and analytical calculations which are
generalized to the quantum case under the assumption of quantum ergodicity in
the system. This super-diffusive behavior is intimately related to conservation
of energy during the free evolution of the system and to fluctuations of energy
in the prepared initial state.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Coherence time of a Bose-Einstein condensate
Temporal coherence is a fundamental property of macroscopic quantum systems,
such as lasers in optics and Bose-Einstein condensates in atomic gases and it
is a crucial issue for interferometry applications with light or matter waves.
Whereas the laser is an "open" quantum system, ultracold atomic gases are
weakly coupled to the environment and may be considered as isolated. The
coherence time of a condensate is then intrinsic to the system and its
derivation is out of the frame of laser theory. Using quantum kinetic theory,
we predict that the interaction with non-condensed modes gradually smears out
the condensate phase, with a variance growing as A t^2+B t+C at long times t,
and we give a quantitative prediction for A, B and C. Whereas the coefficient A
vanishes for vanishing energy fluctuations in the initial state, the
coefficients B and C are remarkably insensitive to these fluctuations. The
coefficient B describes a diffusive motion of the condensate phase that sets
the ultimate limit to the condensate coherence time. We briefly discuss the
possibility to observe the predicted phase spreading, also including the effect
of particle losses.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures; typos correcte
From a nonlinear string to a weakly interacting Bose gas
We investigate a real scalar field whose dynamics is governed by a nonlinear
wave equation. We show that classical description can be applied to a quantum
system of many interacting bosons provided that some quantum ingredients are
included. An universal action has to be introduced in order to define particle
number. The value of this action should be equal to the Planck constant. This
constrain can be imposed by removing high frequency modes from the dynamics by
introducing a cut-off. We show that the position of the cut-off has to be
carefully adjusted. Finally, we show the proper choice of the cut-off ensures
that all low frequency eigenenmodes which are taken into account are
macroscopically occupied.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure