Bose-Einstein condensate near a surface: Quantum field theory of the Casimir-Polder interaction

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.023605· OSTI ID:21448545

Schiefele, Juergen; Henkel, Carsten ^[1]

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1. Universitaet Potsdam, Institut fuer Physik und Astronomie, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24/25, D-14476 Potsdam (Germany)

We derive an expression for the collective Casimir-Polder interaction of a trapped gas of condensed bosons with a plane surface through coupling of the condensate atoms with the electromagnetic field. A systematic perturbation theory is developed based on a diagrammatic expansion of the electromagnetic self-energy. In the leading order, the result for the interaction energy is proportional to the number of atoms and involves the one-body density matrix of the trapped gas. At this order, atom-atom interactions and recoil effects lead to corrections compared to the single-atom theory, through shifts of the atomic transition energies. We also discuss the impact of spatial delocalization of the condensate mode.

• OSTI ID: 21448545
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 82; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
DENSITY MATRIX
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
ENERGY
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
FIELD THEORIES
MATRICES
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
SELF-ENERGY
SURFACES
TRAPPING