Date/Time
Date(s) - 22/10/2003
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Title: A Bose Condensate in an Optical Lattice:Cold Atomic Gases Meet Solid State Phys.

Speaker: Dr. William D. Phillips

Institute: Laser Cooling and Trapping Group
Atomic Physics Division, Physics Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Location: ABB 102

Description:

A atomic-gas Bose-Einstein Condensate, placed in the periodic light-shift potential of an optical standing way, exhibits many features that are similar to the familiar problem of electrons moving in the periodic potential of a solid-state crystal lattice. Differences include the distance scale of the lattice (100s of nanometers compared to a few Ã?ngstroms) and the fact that the BEC represents a wavefunction whose coherence extends over the entire lattice, with what is essentially a single quasi momentum. Recent experiments at NIST-Gaithersburg explore the behavior of a BEC in an optical lattice and interpret the sometimes surprising results using traditional band theory.