Early Universe Quantum Processes in BEC Collapse Experiments

Abstract

We show that in the collapse of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC)4 certain processes involved and mechanisms at work share a common origin with corresponding quantum field processes in the early universe such as particle creation, structure formation, and spinodal instability. Phenomena associated with the controlled BEC collapse observed in the experiment of Donley et al. (Donley, E., et al. (2001), Nature 412, 295; Claussen, N. (2003), PhD Thesis, University of Colorado; Claussen, N., et al. (2003), Physical Review A 67, 060701(R))(they call it “Bose–Nova,” see also Chin, J., Vogels, J., and Ketterle, W. (2003), Physical Review Letters 90, 160405) such as the appearance of bursts and jets can be explained as a consequence of the squeezing and amplification of quantum fluctuations above the condensate by the dynamics of the condensate. Using the physical insight gained in depicting these cosmological processes, our analysis of the changing amplitude and particle contents of quantum excitations in these BEC dynamics provides excellent quantitative fits with the experimental data on the scaling behavior of the collapse time and the amount of particles emitted in the jets. Because of the coherence properties of BEC and the high degree of control and measurement precision in atomic and optical systems, we see great potential in the design of tabletop experiments for testing out general ideas and specific (quantum field) processes in the early universe, thus opening up the possibility for implementing “laboratory cosmology.”