Observation of Feshbach resonances in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Inouye, S.
Andrews, M. R.
Stenger, J.
Miesner, H.-J.
Stamper-Kurn, D. M.
Ketterle, W.

(Inouye, Andrews, Stenger, Miesner, Stamper-Kurn, Ketterle) Department of Physics and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
(Andrews) Present address: Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974, USA.

Nature 392(6672):p 151-154, March 12, 1998.

It has long been predicted that the scattering of ultracold atoms can be altered significantly through a so-called 'Feshbach resonance'. Two such resonances have now been observed in optically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms by varying an external magnetic field. They gave rise to enhanced inelastic processes and a dispersive variation of the scattering length by a factor of over ten. These resonances open new possibilities for the study and manipulation of Bose-Einstein condensates.