Abstract : A combined gravitomagnetic trap was used to measure how the anharmonicity of a trapping potential affects the dynamics of a cold atomic cloud. A displacement of the effective potential minimum as a function of the ensemble temperature was observed. The effect is a direct consequence of the thermal nature of the atomic sample. The results of both a theory approach to the dynamical evolution of the atomic cloud and a numerical simulation are in very good agreement with the experimental observations. The effect can be exploited to devise a novel measurement technique for the temperature of a trapped atomic cloud, as well as to separate thermal and condensed phases in Bose-Einstein condensation experiments.
https://hal-iogs.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00628524 Contributor : Andrea BertoldiConnect in order to contact the contributor Submitted on : Friday, December 4, 2015 - 9:50:55 AM Last modification on : Wednesday, September 16, 2020 - 5:45:30 PM Long-term archiving on: : Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 4:23:02 AM
Andrea Bertoldi, L. Ricci. Dynamics of a cold atom cloud in an anharmonic trap. Physical Review A, American Physical Society, 2010, 81, pp.063415. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.81.063415⟩. ⟨hal-00628524⟩