Control of atomic currents using a quantum stirring device

¹  Department of Physics, Wesleyan University - Middletown, CT 06459, USA
²  MPI for Dynamics and Self-Organization - Bunsenstraße 10, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany, EU
³  Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität - Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany, EU
⁴  Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University - Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel

Corresponding author: mhiller@nld.ds.mpg.de

Received: 9 January 2008
Accepted: 6 April 2008

Abstract

We propose a BEC stirring device which can be regarded as the incorporation of a quantum pump into a closed circuit: it produces a DC circulating current in response to a cyclic adiabatic change of two control parameters of an optical trap. We demonstrate the feasibility of this concept and point out that such device can be utilized in order to probe the interatomic interactions.