Abstract

Correlations in quantum degenerate matter can be created by even weak interactions. A double well provides a simple system in which to observe this effect, since relative occupation has sub-Poissonian fluctuation when the charging energy becomes greater than the Josephson energy of the superfluid. I will discuss our efforts to observe this effect directly in the number statistics of a split Bose-Einstein condensate. We have a sensitivity to standard deviation at the level of tens of atoms, giving us sub-Poissonian noise and uncertainty in our measurement of several thousand atoms. We report statistical results for various preparations and splitting sequences.

© 2007 Optical Society of America