title: Sodium Bose-Einstein condensates in the F = 2 state in a large-volume optical trap.
abstract: We have investigated the properties of Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms in the upper hyperfine ground state. Condensates in the high-field seeking [F=2, m(F)=-2> state were created in a large volume optical trap from initially prepared [F=1, m(F)=-1> condensates using a microwave transition at 1.77 GHz. We found condensates in the stretched state [F=2, m(F)=-2> to be stable for several seconds at densities in the range of 10(14) atoms/cm(3). In addition, we studied the clock transition [F=1, m(F)=0> --> [F=2, m(F)=0> in a sodium Bose-Einstein condensate and determined a density-dependent frequency shift of (2.44+/-0.25+/-0.5) x 10(-12) Hz cm(3).
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. a.gorlitz@physik.uni-stuttgart.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Görlitz
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Gustavson
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Leanhardt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Löw
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Chikkatur
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inouye
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ketterle