Can BECs Show Us Decoherence in "Slow Motion"?

[SW VandeCarr]

I have no technical knowledge of this area, but I would like to know in what ways studying the decoherence process with Bose-Einstein condensates might tell us how this process works. Can BECs allow us to see the process in "slow motion" so to speak?

EDIT: I guess I should first ask if macroscopic superposition of states has been achieved in BECs. My lack of technical knowledge here has to do with terms like 'traps', 'thermal clouds' and 'squeezing' which appear in the literature.

EDIT: I found a good 'making a Schroedinger Cat 101' presentation at

cnls.lanl.gov/~dalvit/Talks_files/cuernavaca-3.pdf
Phys Rev A62 13607 (2000)

The article indicates that decoherence times can be as long as 10^-2 seconds for these 'cats'. That seems plenty long enough to be able to see something interesting, but the internet article doesn't describe any observations, so I still have questions.

For some reason the link doesn't work. (I found it by typing 'decoherence + BEC' on google). Anyway, I'd still appreciate any pearls anyone may have.

 

[azntoon]

The article explains that the decoherence process can be observed in BECs by measuring the interference patterns obtained by interfering two wave packets initially in a superposition state. The authors propose several techniques to measure the decoherence process, such as using the momentum distribution of the wave packet or the spatial correlation between two initially independent condensates. They also suggest that the decoherence time can be increased by using optical traps and/or thermal clouds in order to decrease the influence of environmental noise. So, in conclusion, studying the decoherence process with BECs can give us insight into how this process works. By observing the interference patterns of the wave packets, we can gain valuable information about the rate of decoherence and the effects of environmental noise on the system. Furthermore, techniques such as using optical traps and/or thermal clouds can be used to increase the decoherence time, giving us more time to observe the process in "slow motion".