TY - JOUR
T1 - Interference of interacting matter waves
AU - Gustavsson, Mattias
AU - Haller, Elmar
AU - Mark, Manfred J.
AU - Danzl, Johann G.
AU - Hart, Russell
AU - Daley, Andrew J.
AU - Nägerl, Hanns-Christoph
PY - 2010/6/28
Y1 - 2010/6/28
N2 - The phenomenon of matter-wave interference lies at the heart of quantum physics. It has been observed in various contexts in the limit of non-interacting particles as a single-particle effect. Here we observe and control matter-wave interference whose evolution is driven by interparticle interactions. In a multi-path matter-wave interferometer, the macroscopic many-body wave function of an interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensate develops a regular interference pattern, allowing us to detect and directly visualize the effect of interaction-induced phase shifts. We demonstrate control over the phase evolution by inhibiting interaction-induced dephasing and by refocusing a dephased macroscopic matter wave in a spin-echo-type experiment. Our results show that interactions in a many-body system lead to a surprisingly coherent evolution, possibly enabling narrow-band and high-brightness matter-wave interferometers based on atom lasers.
AB - The phenomenon of matter-wave interference lies at the heart of quantum physics. It has been observed in various contexts in the limit of non-interacting particles as a single-particle effect. Here we observe and control matter-wave interference whose evolution is driven by interparticle interactions. In a multi-path matter-wave interferometer, the macroscopic many-body wave function of an interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensate develops a regular interference pattern, allowing us to detect and directly visualize the effect of interaction-induced phase shifts. We demonstrate control over the phase evolution by inhibiting interaction-induced dephasing and by refocusing a dephased macroscopic matter wave in a spin-echo-type experiment. Our results show that interactions in a many-body system lead to a surprisingly coherent evolution, possibly enabling narrow-band and high-brightness matter-wave interferometers based on atom lasers.
KW - neutron interferometry
KW - Bose-Einstein condensate
KW - atom lasers
KW - matter-wave interference
KW - interparticle interactions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955076301&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1367-2630/12/6/065029
DO - 10.1088/1367-2630/12/6/065029
M3 - Article
SN - 1367-2630
VL - 12
JO - New Journal of Physics
JF - New Journal of Physics
M1 - 065029
ER -