Internal Spatial Oscillations in a Single Trapped Bose--Einstein Condensate

Abstract

I predict the existence of internal spatial currents in a {\it single} macroscopic quantum system, namely in trapped dilute-gas at sufficiently low temperatures, when a Bose-Einstein condensation occurs. The spatial profiles of the wavefunctions of low-lying states in such a system are different due to the inhomogeneity, caused by an asymmetry of external trapping potential. This is the reason for appearing of Josephson--like oscillations between atomic subsystems in different states including the ground state as well. Using a simple model for the wavefunctions of three low-lying states we demonstrate how essential this effect can be. The possible applications of the predicted effect are briefly discussed. Particularly, this effect opens the possibility to identify experimentally the low lying excited states of a system.