title: Bose-Einstein condensation of atoms in a uniform potential.
abstract: We have observed the Bose-Einstein condensation of an atomic gas in the (quasi)uniform three-dimensional potential of an optical box trap. Condensation is seen in the bimodal momentum distribution and the anisotropic time-of-flight expansion of the condensate. The critical temperature agrees with the theoretical prediction for a uniform Bose gas. The momentum distribution of a noncondensed quantum-degenerate gas is also clearly distinct from the conventional case of a harmonically trapped sample and close to the expected distribution in a uniform system. We confirm the coherence of our condensate in a matter-wave interference experiment. Our experiments open many new possibilities for fundamental studies of many-body physics.
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gaunt
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tobias F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Schmidutz
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gotlibovych
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hadzibabic