Matter waves from quantum sources in a force field

Abstract

Localized scattering phenomena may result in the formation of stationary matter waves originating from a compact region in physical space. Mathematically, such waves are advantageously expressed in terms of quantum sources that are introduced into the Schrödinger equation. The source formalism yields direct access to the scattering wave function, particle distribution, and total current. As an example, we study emission from three-dimensional Gaussian sources into a homogeneous force field. This model describes the behaviour of an atom laser supplied by an ideal Bose-Einstein condensate under the influence of gravity. We predict a strong dependence of the beam profile on the condensate size and the presence of interference phenomena recently observed in photodetachment experiments.

Minor changes, final version as accepted by Journal of Physics A. LaTeX, 12 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (3)

• An Atom Laser with a cw Output Coupler
• Quasi-continuous atom laser in the presence of gravity
• Four-path interference and uncertainty principle in photodetachment microscopy

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Electron dynamics in parallel electric and magnetic fields
• Ballistic matter waves with angular momentum: Exact solutions and applications
• Observed photodetachment in parallel electric and magnetic fields
• The space atom laser: An isotropic source for ultra-cold atoms in microgravity
• Matter-wave diffraction in time with a linear potential
• The photoelectric effect in external fields
• Propagation of charged particle waves in a uniform magnetic field
• Quantum theory of an atom laser originating from a Bose-Einstein condensate or a Fermi gas in the presence of gravity
• An efficient and accurate method to obtain the energy-dependent Green function for general potentials
• Tunneling out of a time-dependent well
• Wave-packet analysis of interference patterns in output coupled atoms
• Atom Counting in Expanding Ultracold Clouds