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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 88 » Issue 8
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 080402 (2002) [4 pages]

Growth of Bose-Einstein Condensates from Thermal Vapor

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M. Köhl1,2,3,*, M. J. Davis4,5, C. W. Gardiner6, T. W. Hänsch1,2, and T. Esslinger1,2,3
1Sektion Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Schellingstrasse 4/III, D-80799 Munich, Germany
2Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany
3Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
4Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
5Department of Physics, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
6School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand

Received 29 June 2001; revised 10 December 2001; published 8 February 2002

We report on a quantitative study of the growth process of 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensates. By continuous evaporative cooling we directly control the thermal cloud from which the condensate grows. We compare the experimental data with the results of a theoretical model based on quantum kinetic theory. We find quantitative agreement with theory for the situation of strong cooling, whereas in the weak cooling regime a distinctly different behavior is found in the experiment.

© 2002 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.080402
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.080402
PACS:
03.75.Fi, 05.30.Jp

*Email address: koehl@iqe.phys.ethz.ch

 
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