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Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 070403 (2007) [4 pages]

Spinor Dynamics in an Antiferromagnetic Spin-1 Condensate

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A. T. Black, E. Gomez, L. D. Turner, S. Jung, and P. D. Lett
Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA

Received 6 April 2007; revised 8 June 2007; published 16 August 2007

We observe coherent spin oscillations in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium. The variation of the spin oscillations with magnetic field shows a clear signature of nonlinearity, in agreement with theory, which also predicts anharmonic oscillations near a critical magnetic field. Measurements of the magnetic phase diagram agree with predictions made in the approximation of a single spatial mode. The oscillation period yields the best measurement to date of the sodium spin-dependent interaction coefficient, determining that the difference between the sodium spin-dependent s-wave scattering lengths af=2-af=0 is 2.47±0.27 Bohr radii.

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.070403
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.070403
PACS:
05.30.Jp, 03.75.Mn, 32.80.Cy, 32.80.Pj