Rogue decoherence in the formation of a macroscopic atom-molecule superposition
- Helsinki Institute of Physics, PL 64, FIN-00014 Helsingin yliopisto, Finland and Department of Physics, University of Turku, FIN-20014 Turun yliopisto (Finland)
We theoretically examine two-color photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, focusing on the role of rogue decoherence in the formation of macroscopic atom-molecule superpositions. Rogue dissociation occurs when two zero-momentum condensate atoms are photoassociated into a molecule, which then dissociates into a pair of atoms of equal-and-opposite momentum, instead of dissociating back to the zero-momentum condensate. As a source of decoherence that may damp quantum correlations in the condensates, rogue dissociation is an obstacle to the formation of a macroscopic atom-molecule superposition. We study rogue decoherence in a setup which, without decoherence, would yield a macroscopic atom-molecule superposition, and find that the most favorable conditions for said superpositions are a density {rho}{approx}10{sup 12} cm{sup -3} and temperature T{approx}0.1 nK.
- OSTI ID:
- 20974773
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 74, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.053601; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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