Quantum Coherent Atomic Tunneling between Two Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensates
- International School of Advanced Studies and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, via Beirut 2/4, I-34014, Trieste (Italy)
- International Centre for Theoretical Physics, I-34100, Trieste (Italy)
We study the coherent atomic tunneling between two zero-temperature Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) confined in a double-well magnetic trap. Two Gross-Pitaevskii equations for the self-interacting BEC amplitudes, coupled by a transfer matrix element, describe the dynamics in terms of the interwell phase difference and population imbalance. In addition to the anharmonic generalization of the familiar ac Josephson effect and plasma oscillations occurring in superconductor junctions, the nonlinear BEC tunneling dynamics sustains a self-maintained population imbalance: a novel {open_quotes}macroscopic quantum self-trapping{close_quotes} effect. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 554402
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 25 Vol. 79; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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