Modelling an Antiferromagnetic Spinor Condensate

Stephen Maxwell, Thomas Hanna, Yingmei Liu, Eite Tiesinga and Paul Lett

National Institute of Standards & Technology, Atomic Physics Division

100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8424, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8424, USA

The dynamics of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate of spin-1 (F=1) sodium atoms deviate from the predictions of current theory.  The atomic spin can take three different projections along a quantization axis.  Collisions between atoms with differing spin projection can cause reorientation of the spins.  In a Bose-Einstein condensate, all atoms share the same wavefunction and spin-reorienting collisions result in an oscillation of the populations of the spin states.  While the theory explains much of the coherent behaviour and correctly predicts the ground state of the system, a transition from oscillatory behaviour to a steady state is not understood.  In this poster we describe a numerical model based on a three component coupled Gross Pitaevskii equation that simulates the behaviour of the gas.  The model shows a coupling of spin interactions to motional degrees of freedom and shows behaviour similar to that seen in experiment.  We also describe our efforts to produce an analytic model of this system.

CATEGORY: Physics

Name:                                  Stephen Maxwell

Mentor's name:                    Paul Lett

Division:                              Atomic Physics Division (842)

Laboratory:                          Physics

Address:                               Rm. B141, Bldg. 216, Stop 8424

Telephone #:                        (301) 975-4950

FAX #:                                 (301) 975-8272

email:                                   stephen.maxwell@nist.gov

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Name:                                  Thomas Hanna

Mentor's name:                    Paul Julienne

Division:                              Atomic Physics Division (842)

Laboratory:                          Physics

Address:                               Rm. A249, Bldg. 221, Stop 8423

Telephone #:                        (301) 975-3582

email:                                   Thomas.hanna@nist.gov

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Name:                                  Yingmei Liu

Mentor's name:                    Paul Lett

Division:                              Atomic Physics Division (842)

Laboratory:                          Physics

Address:                               Rm. B255, Bldg. 216, Stop 8424

Telephone #:                        (301) 975-8571

FAX #:                                 (301) 975-8272

email:                                    yingmei.liu@nist.gov

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Name:                                  Eite Tiesinga

Division:                              Atomic Physics Division (842)

Laboratory:                          Physics

Address:                               Rm. A247, Bldg. 221, Stop 8423

Telephone #:                        (301) 975-2284

FAX #:                                 (301) 975-5485

email:                                    eite.tiesinga@nist.gov

Not a Sigma Xi member