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Phys. Rev. A 70, 013408 (2004) [15 pages]

Analysis of dynamical tunneling experiments with a Bose-Einstein condensate

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W. K. Hensinger1,2,*, A. Mouchet3,†, P. S. Julienne2, D. Delande4, N. R. Heckenberg1, and H. Rubinsztein-Dunlop1
1Centre for Biophotonics and Laser Science, Department of Physics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
2National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
3Laboratoire de Mathématique et de Physique Théorique (CNRS UMR 6083), Avenue Monge, Parc de Grandmont, 37200 Tours, France
4Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel (CNRS UMR 8552), Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France

Received 26 September 2003; revised 5 April 2004; published 15 July 2004

Dynamical tunneling is a quantum phenomenon where a classically forbidden process occurs that is prohibited not by energy but by another constant of motion. The phenomenon of dynamical tunneling has been recently observed in a sodium Bose-Einstein condensate. We present a detailed analysis of these experiments using numerical solutions of the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation and the corresponding Floquet theory. We explore the parameter dependency of the tunneling oscillations and we move the quantum system towards the classical limit in the experimentally accessible regime.

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.70.013408
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.70.013408
PACS:
42.50.Vk, 32.80.Pj, 05.45.Mt, 03.65.Xp

*Electronic address: hensinge@umich.edu; Present address: Department of Physics, University of Michigan, 2477 Randall Laboratory, 500 East University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120, USA.

†Electronic address: mouchet@celfi.phys.univ-tours.fr

 
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