Phys. Rev. A 77, 033624 (2008) [7 pages]Density correlations in cold atomic gases: Atomic speckles in the presence of disorderReceived 31 January 2008; published 21 March 2008 The phenomenon of random intensity patterns, for waves propagating in the presence of disorder, is well known in optics and in mesoscopic physics. We study this phenomenon for cold atomic gases expanding, by a diffusion process, in a weak random potential. We show that the density-density correlation function of the expanding gas is strongly affected by disorder and we estimate the typical size of a speckle spot, i.e., a region of enhanced or depleted density. Both a Fermi gas and a Bose-Einstein condensate (in a mean-field approach) are considered. © 2008 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.77.033624
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.77.033624
PACS:
03.75.Ss, 03.75.Kk, 42.50.Lc, 71.55.Jv
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