Shell potentials for microgravity Bose-Einstein condensates

Understand

Extending the understanding of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) physics to new geometries and topologies has a long and varied history in ultracold atomic physics.

• One such new geometry is that of a bubble, where a condensate would be confined to the surface of an ellipsoidal shell.
• Study of this geometry would give insight into new collective modes, self-interference effects, topology-dependent vortex behavior, dimensionality crossovers from thick to thin shells, and the properties of condensates pushed into the ultradilute limit.
• Here we discuss a proposal to implement a realistic experimental framework for generating shell-geometry BEC using radiofrequency dressing of magnetically-trapped samples.