Atomic number fluctuations in a mixture of two spinor condensates

Abstract

We study particle number fluctuations in the quantum ground states of a mixture of two spin-1 atomic condensates when the interspecies spin-exchange coupling interaction $c_{12}β$ is adjusted. The two spin-1 condensates forming the mixture are respectively ferromagnetic and polar in the absence of an external magnetic (B-) field. We categorize all possible ground states using the angular momentum algebra and compute their characteristic atom number fluctuations, focusing especially on the the AA phase (when $ c_{12}β>0$), where the ground state becomes fragmented and atomic number fluctuations exhibit drastically different features from a single stand alone spin-1 polar condensate. Our results are further supported by numerical simulations of the full quantum many-body system.

5 pages, 2 figures, in press PRA