Directional `superradiant' collisions: bosonic amplification of atom pairs emitted from an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

We study spontaneous directionality in the bosonic amplification of atom pairs emitted from an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), an effect analogous to `superradiant' emission of atom-photon pairs. Using a simplified model, we make analytic predictions regarding directional effects for both atom-atom and atom-photon emission. These are confirmed by numerical mean-field simulations, demonstrating the the feasibility of nearly perfect directional emission along the condensate axis. The dependence of the emission angle on the pump strength for atom-atom pairs is significantly different than for atom-photon pairs.