Controlling Bose-Einstein Condensates
Georg Jäger
11:20 - 12:00 Friday 26 June 2015 HS 05.12 Physikgebaeude, Universitätsplatz 5

Bose-Einstein Condensates are very interesting physical objects with a wide variety of applications. They behave, so to say, like macroscopic quantum objects, where quantum phenomena, like interference and entanglement can be observed and harnessed within the micrometer scale.
Applications range from matter wave interferometry to simulation of complex systems with ultra cold atoms, with prominent future uses such as gravitational wave detectors or atom lasers.
A huge challenge for all of these applications is controlling the condensate, since as a quantum system its behavior is difficult to predict and sometimes even counterintuitive.
We explore the problem of generating a highly number squeezed state, that can be used for matter wave interferometry. A BEC is trapped in a magnetic microtrap where a control field, that is calculated via Optimal Control Theory, induces a process called parametric amplification in order to produce and trap a highly squeezed state.