title: Distillation of bose-einstein condensates in a double-well potential.
abstract: Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms, prepared in an optical dipole trap, were distilled into a second empty dipole trap adjacent to the first one. The distillation was driven by thermal atoms spilling over the potential barrier separating the two wells and then forming a new condensate. This process serves as a model system for metastability in condensates, provides a test for quantum kinetic theories of condensate formation, and also represents a novel technique for creating or replenishing condensates in new locations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schirotzek
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Pasquini
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Leanhardt
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ketterle