Studies of magnetically and optically confined Bose-Einstein condensates

Summary form only given.The study of Bose-Einstein condensation in DC magnetic traps has yielded a rich harvest of researches. By studying the process of condensate formation in a super-cooled atomic gas, one not only verifies theories describing dynamic properties of the condensate, but also discerns the stimulated character of collisions into the condensate from the surrounding vapor. Studies of sound propagation have explored and detailed the connection between Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute vapors and quantum liquids such as superfluid /sup 4/He. Further, the study of low-lying collective excitations, in particular their frequency and damping as a function of temperature have challenged pre-existing theoretical frameworks. These studies make use of repeated, nondestructive, in-situ imaging of Bose-Einstein condensates, and of optical and magnetic tools for manipulating cold atomic gases. Recently, the field of Bose-Einstein condensation has been widened by the successful transfer of a condensate into an optical trap. This trap enables much tighter confinement than that provided by existing magnetic traps, the confinement of arbitrary superpositions of hyperfine states, and tight confinement in the presence of a strong magnetic field. We will present recent results in these and other studies.