Hydrodynamic modes in a trapped gas of metastable helium above the Bose-Einstein transition

Abstract

This article describes experiments performed with an ultracold gas of metastable helium above the Bose-Einstein transition. The gas is trapped in an harmonic magnetic potential and collective excitations are induced. Both the frequency and the damping rate of the lowest monopole-quadrupole m = 0 mode of excitation are studied at different temperatures and compared to theoretical predictions. Results indicate that the gas goes from a collisionless regime towards a hydrodynamic regime as the elastic collision rate increases, when one goes down along the evaporative cooling ramp. However we find a discrepancy for the collisional parameters in comparison with predictions relying on the value of the scattering length previously estimated. Possible explanations are put forward in the final discussion.