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arXiv · physics/0212081

Analogy between a two-well Bose-Einstein condensate and atom diffraction

H. L. Haroutyunyan·G. Nienhuis
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Abstract

We compare the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in two coupled potential wells with atoms diffracting from a standing light wave. The corresponding Hamiltonians have an identical appearance, but with a different set of commutation rules. Well-known diffraction phenomena as Pendellosung oscillations between opposite momenta in the case of Bragg diffraction, and adiabatic transitions between momentum states are shown to have analogies in the two-well case. They represent the collective exchange of a fixed number of atoms between the wells.

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H. L. Haroutyunyan, G. Nienhuis. 2002-12-20. Analogy between a two-well Bose-Einstein condensate and atom diffraction. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.67.053611

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