Quantum Phase Transitions and Continuous Observation of Spinor Dynamics in an Antiferromagnetic Condensate

Abstract

Condensates of spin-1 sodium display rich spin dynamics due to the antiferromagnetic nature of the interactions in this system. We use Faraday rotation spectroscopy to make a continuous and minimally destructive measurement of the dynamics over multiple spin oscillations on a single evolving condensate. This method provides a sharp signature to locate a magnetically tuned separatrix in phase space which depends on the net magnetization. We also observe a phase transition from a two- to a three-component condensate at a low but finite temperature using a Stern-Gerlach imaging technique. This transition should be preserved as a zero-temperature quantum phase transition.

Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters

References in corpus (5)

• Spontaneously modulated spin textures in a dipolar spinor Bose-Einstein condensate
• Precision measurement of spin-dependent interaction strengths for spin-1 and spin-2 87Rb atoms
• Spinor Dynamics in an Antiferromagnetic Spin-1 Condensate
• Magnetically tuned spin dynamics resonance
• Faraday spectroscopy of atoms confined in a dark optical trap