Resistive Flow in a Weakly Interacting Bose-Einstein condensate

Published

July 25, 2014

Author(s)

Fred Jendrzejewski, Stephen P. Eckel, Noel Murray, Calib Lanier, Mark Edwards, Christopher J. Lobb, Gretchen K. Campbell

Abstract

We report the direct observation of resistive flow through a weak link in a weakly interacting atomic Bose- Einstein condensate (BEC). Two weak links separate our ring-shaped superfluid atomtronic circuit into two distinct regions, a source and a drain. Motion of these weak links allows for creation of controlled flow between the source and the drain. At a critical value of the weak link velocity, we observe a transition from superfluid flow to superfluid plus resistive flow. Working in the hydrodynamic limit, we observe a conductivity that is four orders of magnitude larger than previously reported conductivities for a BEC with a tunnel junction. Good agreement with zero-temperature Gross-Pitaevskii simulations and a phenomenological model based on phase slips indicate that the observed conductivity can be described by the creation of excitations. Our measurements of resistive flow elucidate the microscopic origin of the dissipation and pave the way for more complex atomtronic devices.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

113

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

atomic circuits, Bose-Einstein condensation, superfluidity, transport, ultracold atoms

Citation

Jendrzejewski, F. , Eckel, S. , Murray, N. , Lanier, C. , Edwards, M. , Lobb, C. and Campbell, G. (2014), Resistive Flow in a Weakly Interacting Bose-Einstein condensate, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.045305 (Accessed October 17, 2025)