Theory of domain formation in inhomogeneous ferromagnetic dipolar condensates

Understand

Recent experimental studies of $^{87}$Rb spinor Bose Einstein condensates have shown the existence of a magnetic field driven quantum phase transition accompanied by structure formation on the ferromagnetic side of the transition.

• In this theoretical study we examine the dynamics of the unstable modes following the transition taking into account the effects of the trap, non-linearities, finite temperature and dipole-dipole interactions.
• Starting from an initial state which includes quantum fluctuations, we attempt to make quantitative comparisons with recent experimental data on this system and estimate the contribution of quantum zero-point fluctuations to the domain formation.
• Finally, using the strong anisotropy of the trap, we propose ways to observe directly the effects of dipole-dipole interactions on the spinor condensate dynamics.