Observation of dipole-dipole interaction in a degenerate quantum gas

J. Stuhler (1) , A. Griesmaier (1) , T. Koch (1) , M. Fattori (1) , T. Pfau (1) , S. Giovanazzi (2) , P. Pedri (3, 4) , L. M.N.B.F. Santos (3)

1 5. Physikalisches Institut [Stuttgart]
2 Physikalisches Institut [Tübingen]
3 Institut fur Theoretische Physik III
4 LPTMS - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques

We have investigated the expansion of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of strongly magnetic chromium atoms. The long-range and anisotropic magnetic dipole-dipole interaction leads to an anisotropic deformation of the expanding Cr-BEC which depends on the orientation of the atomic dipole moments. Our measurements are consistent with the theory of dipolar quantum gases and show that a Cr-BEC is an excellent model system to study dipolar interactions in such gases.

Domaines: Autre [cond-mat.other]

J. Stuhler, A. Griesmaier, T. Koch, M. Fattori, T. Pfau, et al.. Observation of dipole-dipole interaction in a degenerate quantum gas. Physical Review Letters, 2005, 95, pp.150406. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.150406⟩. ⟨hal-00012490⟩