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Published on: October 2, 2016
Superposition of macroscopic numbers of atoms and molecules
J Calsamiglia1, M Mackie, K A Suominen
1Helsinki Institute of Physics, PL 64, FIN-00014 Helsingin yliopisto, Finland.
Abstract:
We theoretically examine photoassociation of a nonideal Bose-Einstein condensate, focusing on evidence for a macroscopic superposition of atoms and molecules. This problem raises an interest because, rather than two states of a given object, an atom-molecule system is a seemingly impossible macroscopic superposition of different objects. Nevertheless, photoassociation enables coherent intraparticle conversion, and we thereby propose a viable scheme for creating a superposition of a macroscopic number of atoms with a macroscopic number of molecules.
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