Josephson spectroscopy of a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential

Abstract

The dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential are analysed in terms of transitions between energy eigenstates. By solving the time-dependent and time-independent Gross-Pitaevskii equation in one dimension, we identify tunnelling resonances associated with level crossings, and determine the critical velocity that characterises the resonance. We test the validity of a non-linear two-state model, and show that for the experimentally interesting case, where the critical velocity is large, the influence of higher-lying states is important.