Eur. Phys. J. D 45, 229-234 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00277-3

Coherent control of ballistic energy growth for a kicked Bose-Einstein condensate

¹ CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan
² Institue for Laser Science, The University of Electro Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofushi, Tokyo, 182, Japan

Corresponding author: ^a mark@ils.uec.ac.jp

Received: 8 June 2007
Published online: 28 September 2007

Abstract

We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate which is split into two momentum components and then “kicked" at the Talbot time by an optical standing wave. The mean energy growth is shown to be suppressed or enhanced depending on the quantum phase between the two momentum components. Experimental verification is provided and we discuss possible implications of our results for recently suggested applications of kicked atoms.