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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Since the first experimental realization of multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates we observed a new variety of properties characteristic of these systems. Two component systems for example can be miscible or immiscible depending on the interaction between the atoms involved. If we consider a binary mixture made of atoms in different hyperfine states we can couple those atoms via a laser producing a spin-1/2 system. The laser can be used to induce and control the phase transition between miscible and immiscible condensates. We use this high control over the phase transition to test the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, a universal theory applicable to any second order phase transition which predicts the number of formed defects in function of the rate of the transition.
Host: Wojciech Zurek