Dimensional reduction in Bose-Einstein-condensed alkali-metal vapors

Abstract

We investigate the effects of dimensional reduction in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) induced by a strong harmonic confinement in the cylindric radial direction or in the cylindric axial direction. The former case corresponds to a transition from three dimensions (3D) to 1D in cigar-shaped BECs, while the latter case corresponds to a transition from 3D to 2D in disk-shaped BECs. We analyze the first sound velocity in axially homogeneous cigar-shaped BECs and in radially homogeneous disk-shaped BECs. We consider also the dimensional reduction in a BEC confined by a harmonic potential both in the radial direction and in the axial direction. By using a variational approach, we calculate monopole and quadrupole collective oscillations of the BEC. We find that the frequencies of these collective oscillations are related to the dimensionality and to the repulsive or attractive interatomic interaction.