2007/12/27 by M. Vengalattore, S. R. Leslie, J. Guzman +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #quant-ph #cond-mat.mes-hall #physics.atom-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.170403
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 170403 (2008)
arxiv created 2007/12/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
Helical spin textures in a 87Rb F=1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensate are found to decay spontaneously toward a spatially modulated structure of spin domains. This evolution is ascribed to magnetic dipolar interactions that energetically favor the short-wavelength domains over the long-wavelength spin helix. This is confirmed by eliminating the dipolar interactions by a sequence of rf pulses and observing a suppression of the formation of the short-range domains. This study confirms the significance of magnetic dipole interactions in degenerate 87Rb F=1 spinor gases.