2002/05/17 by L. Khaykovich, F. Schreck, G. Ferrari +5
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.1071021
published as Science, 296, 1290-1293 (2002) · 11 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2002/05/17 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
We report the production of matter-wave solitons in an ultracold lithium 7 gas. The effective interaction between atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate is tuned with a Feshbach resonance from repulsive to attractive before release in a one-dimensional optical waveguide. Propagation of the soliton without dispersion over a macroscopic distance of 1.1 mm is observed. A simple theoretical model explains the stability region of the soliton. These matter-wave solitons open fascinating possibilities for future applications in coherent atom optics, atom interferometry and atom transport.