Interference pattern of Bose-condensed gas in a 2D optical lattice

Abstract

For the Bose-condensed gas confined in a magnetic trap and in a two-dimensional optical lattice, the non-uniform distribution of atoms in different lattice sites is considered based on Gross-Pitaevskii equation. A propagator method is used to investigate the time evolution of 2D interference patterns after (i)only the optical lattice is swithed off, and (ii)both the optical lattice and the magnetic trap are swithed off. An analytical description on the motion of side peaks in the interference patterns is presented by using the density distribution in a momentum space.