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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 33: Quantengase: Bosonen
Q 33.2: Gruppenbericht
Mittwoch, 4. März 2009, 14:30–15:00, VMP 6 HS-A
Free expansion of a Bose-Einstein condensate in microgravity — •Wojciech Lewoczko-Adamczyk1, Achim Peters1, Tim van Zoest2, Ernst Rasel2, Wolfgang Ertmer2, Anika Vogel3, Kai Bongs3, Klaus Sengstock3, Endre Kajari4, Reinhold Walser4, Wolfgang Schleich4, Thorben Könemann5, Klaus Lämmerzahl5, and Hansjörg Dittus5 — 1Institut für Physik, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin — 2Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz-Universität Hannover — 3Institut für Laserphysik, Universität Hamburg — 4Institut für Quantenphysik, Universität Ulm — 5ZARM, Universität Bremen
We report on the current status of the free fall Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) experiment at the ZARM drop tower in Bremen. After the realization of the first BEC in microgravity, the dynamics of the condensate in the shallow, decompressed trap and during the free expansion were studied comprehensively. With the resulting knowledge and understanding of the relevant processes, a free expansion time up to one second has already been achieved. This unprecedented time of free evolution leads to new possibilities for the study of BEC-coherence. It can also be applied to enhance the sensitivity of inertial quantum sensors based on ultra-cold matter waves. Our compact and portable BEC-apparatus will be presented in detail. Special emphasis will be put on its robustness and reliability, which opens new routes to quantum optics experiments also on other microgravity platforms, like ballistic rockets or the International Space Station. This work was realized within the QUANTUS collaboration.