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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 88 » Issue 7
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 070403 (2002) [4 pages]

Observation of Anomalous Spin-State Segregation in a Trapped Ultracold Vapor

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H. J. Lewandowski, D. M. Harber, D. L. Whitaker*, and E. A. Cornell†
JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440

Received 25 September 2001; published 30 January 2002

We observe counterintuitive spin segregation in an inhomogeneous sample of ultracold, noncondensed rubidium atoms in a magnetic trap. We use spatially selective microwave spectroscopy to verify a model that accounts for the differential forces on two internal spin states. In any simple understanding of the cloud dynamics, the forces are far too small to account for the dramatic transient spin polarizations observed. The underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated.

© 2002 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.070403
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.070403
PACS:
05.30.Jp, 32.80.Pj, 51.60.+a, 75.30.Ds

*Present address: Physics Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267.

†Quantum Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

 
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