Browsing by Author "Bradley, Curtis C."

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    Bose-Einstein condensation of lithium
    (SPIE, 1997) Hulet, Randy G.; Bradley, Curtis C.; Sackett, C. A.
    Bose-Einstein condensation of 7Li has been studied in a magnetically trapped gas. Because of the effectively attractive interactions between 7Li atoms, many-body quantum theory predicts that the occupation number of the condensate is limited to about 1400 atoms. We observe the condensate number to be limited to a maximum value between 650 and 1300 atoms. The measurements were made using a versatile phase-contrast imaging technique. We discuss our measurements, the current theoretical understanding of BEC in a gas with attractive interactions, and future experiments we hope to perform.