https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530170010
Instanton approach to Josephson tunneling between trapped condensates
1
Department of Physics, University of Kaiserslautern, 67653
Kaiserslautern, Germany
2
Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical Physics, Shanxi
University, Taiyuan 030006, P.R. China
Corresponding authors: a ybzhang@physik.uni-kl.de - b mueller1@physik.uni-kl.de
Received:
29
June
2001
Revised:
17
September
2001
Published online: 15 December 2001
An instanton method is proposed to investigate the quantum tunneling between two weakly-linked Bose-Einstein condensates confined in double-well potential traps. We point out some intrinsic pathologies in the earlier treatments of other authors and make an effort to go beyond these very simple zero order models. The tunneling amplitude may be calculated in the Thomas-Fermi approximation and beyond it; we find it depends on the number of the trapped atoms, through the chemical potential. Some suggestions are given for the observation of the Josephson oscillation and the MQST.
PACS: 03.75.Fi – Phase coherent atomic ensembles; quantum condensation phenomena / 05.30.Jp – Boson systems / 32.80.Pj – Optical cooling of atoms; trapping
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2001
