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Phys. Rev. A 55, 4318–4324 (1997)

Quantum dynamics of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential

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G. J. Milburn and J. Corney
Department of Physics, The University of Queensland, QLD Brisbane 4072, Australia

E. M. Wright
Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, United Kingdom

D. F. Walls
Department of Physics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

We consider the quantum dynamics of a neutral atom Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential, including many-body hard-sphere interactions. Using a mean-field factorization we show that the coherent oscillations due to tunneling are suppressed when the number of atoms exceeds a critical value. An exact quantum solution, in a two-mode approximation, shows that the mean-field solution is modulated by a quantum collapse and revival sequence.

© 1997 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.55.4318
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.55.4318
PACS:
03.75.Fi, 05.30.Jp, 32.80.Pj, 74.20.De
 
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