Nonlinear adiabatic passage from fermion atoms to boson molecules

E. Pazy, I. Tikhonenkov, Y. B. Band, M. Fleischhauer, A. Vardi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the dynamics of an adiabatic sweep through a Feshbach resonance in a quantum gas of fermionic atoms. Analysis of the dynamical equations, supported by mean-field and many-body numerical results, shows that the dependence of the remaining atomic fraction Î" on the sweep rate α varies from exponential Landau-Zener behavior for a single pair of particles to a power-law dependence for large particle number N. The power law is linear, Î"â α, when the initial molecular fraction is smaller than the 1/N quantum fluctuations, and Î"â α1/3 when it is larger. Experimental data agree well with a linear dependence, but do not conclusively rule out the Landau-Zener model.

Original languageEnglish
Article number170403
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume95
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Oct 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Nonlinear adiabatic passage from fermion atoms to boson molecules'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this