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SUMMARY:Going round the bend with Bose-Einstein condensates - Dr Aidan Arn
 old (Strathclyde)
DTSTART:20090119T153000Z
DTEND:20090119T170000Z
UID:TALK13404@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:6270
DESCRIPTION:Aidan Arnold\n \nSUPA\, Dept. of Physics\, University of Strat
 hclyde\, http://www.photonics.phys.strath.ac.uk/ \n\n \nThe concept of ato
 ms as particles is familiar to many\, however at the microscopic level cla
 ssical physics breaks down\, and we enter the wave-like realm of quantum m
 echanics. If vapours of bosons are cold and dense enough a phase transitio
 n occurs in which all of the atoms coalesce into the same (lowest energy) 
 quantum state – a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)\, in which all of the a
 tomic wave-functions are coherent. These “atom lasers” are extremely c
 old (~50nK) and allow textbook quantum mechanics to be played out on a sim
 ple CCD camera. \nI will give an overview of the processes required to obt
 ain BEC\, before discussing how we make our 10cm diameter BEC storage ring
  and present recent experimental results including a gravitational beamspl
 itter for BECs. Our system will be ideal for studying condensate collision
 s and for precise Sagnac interferometry. Future plans for ring and ring la
 ttice BEC experiments at Strathclyde will also be summarised. \n\n\n
LOCATION:HEP Seminar Room (980) Rutherford Building\, Cavendish Laboratory
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