Time-domain atom interferometry across the threshold for Bose-Einstein condensation.
We have performed time-domain interferometry experiments with matter waves trapped in a harmonic potential above and below the Bose-Einstein phase transition, by means of the method of separated oscillating fields, with a variable time delay T. We observe the oscillations of the population between two internal Zeeman states versus the delay T to be rapidly depleted both below and slightly above Bose-Einstein condensation. We give a quantitative explanation in terms of the phase evolution due to the entanglement between the internal and external degrees of freedom.
Minardi
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INFM-European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy (LENS) and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Firenze, Largo E. Fermi 2, I-50125 Firenze, Italy.
Fort
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Maddaloni
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Inguscio
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