Abstract
We have measured the damped motion of a trapped Bose–Einstein condensate, oscillating with respect to a thermal cloud. The cigar-shaped trapping potential provides enough transverse confinement that the dynamics of the system are intermediate between three-dimensional and one-dimensional. We find that the scaling of the damping rate with temperature is consistent with Landau theory, but that the damping rate for axial oscillations at a given temperature is consistently smaller than expected for a three-dimensional gas. We attribute this to the suppressed density of states for low-energy transverse excitations (essential excitations for axial Landau damping), which results from the quantization of the radial motion.
Highlights
Trapped, ultracold gases offer a versatile way to investigate quantum many-body physics
While the static properties of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) are generally well understood [3] the dynamical behaviour remains an active area of study [4]
Stamper-Kurn et al [13] excited a cigar-shaped condensate to move rigidly along its length, out of phase with its thermal component. They saw that this second-sound motion [14] was damped, and noted that collisions neglected in the Landau theory might play a role because the hydrodynamicity – the thermal cloud collision rate divided by the oscillation frequency – was not small
Summary
Ultracold gases offer a versatile way to investigate quantum many-body physics. They saw that this second-sound motion [14] was damped, and noted that collisions neglected in the Landau theory might play a role because the hydrodynamicity – the thermal cloud collision rate divided by the oscillation frequency – was not small. Oscillations of long, thin condensates in the 1D regime [17] have very different behaviour, with no damping [18] unless corrugation is added to the trapping potential [19].
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