Merging and splitting of Bose–Einstein condensates into two translating traps

Abstract

We investigate the process of merging and splitting Bose–Einstein condensates into two slowly translating traps, analogous to a dual input atomic beam splitter. With the help of direct three-dimensional numerical simulations, we explore the dependence of population distributions on the initial relative phase and the trap moving speed. For non-interacting Bose–Einstein condensates, we find that our numerical results are in good agreement with a simple theoretical prediction. However, for interacting Bose–Einstein condensates, our results show striking differences with the non-interacting case: the Bose–Einstein condensates are always split towards 50:50 in the slow translation regime. This bosonic anti-bunching effect is interpreted as a consequence of complicated flow patterns due to atomic interactions.