Physics – Condensed Matter – Statistical Mechanics
Scientific paper
2000-10-11
Physics
Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
4 pages including 5 figs
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2196
We report the first experimental observation of Beliaev damping of a collective excitation in a Bose-condensed gas. Beliaev damping is not predicted by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and so this is one of the few experiments that tests BEC theory beyond the mean field approximation. Measurements of the amplitude of a high frequency scissors mode, show that the Beliaev process transfers energy to a lower lying mode and then back and forth between these modes. These characteristics are quite distinct from those of Landau damping, which leads to a monotonic decrease in amplitude. To enhance the Beliaev process we adjusted the geometry of the magnetic trapping potential to give a frequency ratio of 2 to 1 between two of the scissors modes of the condensate. The ratios of the trap oscillation frequencies $\omega_y / \omega_x$ and $\omega_z / \omega_x$ were changed independently, so that we could investigate the resonant coupling over a range of conditions.
Foot Christopher J.
Hechenblaikner Gerald
Hodby Eleanor
Marago' O. M.
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