Achieving steady-state Bose-Einstein condensation

We investigate the possibility of obtaining Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in a steady state by continuously loading atoms into a magnetic trap while keeping the frequency of the radio frequency field fixed. A steady state is obtained when the gain of atoms due to loading is balanced with the three dominant loss mechanisms due to elastic collisions with hot atoms from the background gas, inelastic three-body collisions, and evaporation. We describe our model of this system and present results of calculations of the peak phase-space density ρ₀ in order to investigate the conditions under which one can reach the regime ρ₀>~2.612 and attain BEC in steady state.