Submitted on May 15, 2001
Accepted on June 11, 2001
Observation of Quantum Shock Waves Created with Ultra-Compressed Slow Light Pulses in a Bose-Einstein Condensate
Zachary Dutton 1,
Michael Budde 2,
Christopher Slowe 1,
Lene Vestergaard Hau 3
1 Rowland Institute for Science, 100 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Lyman Laboratory, Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
2 Rowland Institute for Science, 100 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA: Cruft Laboratory, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
3 Rowland Institute for Science, 100 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Lyman Laboratory, Department of Physics, Cruft Laboratory, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
We have used an extension of our slow light technique to provide a method for inducing small density defects in a Bose-Einstein condensate. These sub-resolution, micrometer-sized defects evolve into large-amplitude sound waves. We present an experimental observation and theoretical investigation of the resulting breakdown of superfluidity, and we observe directly the decay of the narrow density defects into solitons, the onset of the "snake" instability, and the subsequent nucleation of vortices.
