Double-Slit Interferometry with a Bose-Einstein Condensate
arXiv:cond-mat/0404149 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.71.033628
Abstract
A Bose-Einstein "double-slit" interferometer has been recently realized experimentally by (Y. Shin et. al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 50405 (2004)). We analyze the interferometric steps by solving numerically the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevski equation in three-dimensional space. We focus on the adiabaticity time scales of the problem and on the creation of spurious collective excitations as a possible source of the strong dephasing observed experimentally. The role of quantum fluctuations is discussed.
4 pages, 3 figures