1997/03/21 by Janne Ruostekoski, Dan F. Walls · 5 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.56.2996
published as Phys. Rev. A 56 (1997) 2996 · 26 pages, RevTex, 8 postscript figures, 1 MacBinary eps-figure
arxiv created 1997/03/21 · openalex publication_date 1997/10/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the interaction of light with two Bose-Einstein condensates as an open quantum system. The two overlapping condensates occupy two different Zeeman sublevels and two driving light beams induce a coherent quantum tunneling between the condensates. We derive the master equation for the system. It is shown via stochastic simulations that the measurements of spontaneously scattered photons establish the relative phase between two Bose-Einstein condensates, even though the condensates are initially in pure number states. These measurements are nondestructive for the condensates, because only light is scattered and no atoms are removed from the system. Due to macroscopic quantum interference the detection rate of photons depends strongly on the relative phase between the condensates. This may provide a way to distinguish between initial number states and initial symmetry-breaking states of the condensates.