Nonadiabatic production of spinor condensates with a QUIC trap

Abstract

Motivated by the recent experimental observation of multi-component spinor condensates via a time-dependent quadrupole-Ioffe-configuration trap (QUIC trap), we provide a general framework for the investigation of nonadiabatic Landau-Zener dynamics of a hyperfine spin, e.g., from an atomic magnetic dipole moment coupled to a weak time-dependent magnetic (B-) field. The spin flipped population distribution, or the so-called Majorona formula is expressed in terms of system parameters and experimental observables; thus, provides much needed insight into the underlying mechanism for the production of spinor condensates due to nonadiabatic level crossings.