Multimode quantum limits to the linewidth of an atom laser

Abstract

The linewidth of an atom laser can be limited by excitation of higher energy modes in the source Bose-Einstein condensate, energy shifts in that condensate due to the atomic interactions, or phase diffusion of the lasing mode due to those interactions. The first two are effects that can be described with a semiclassical model, and have been studied in detail for both pumped and unpumped atom lasers. The third is a purely quantum statistical effect, and has been studied only in zero dimensional models. We examine an unpumped atom laser in one dimension using a quantum field theory using stochastic methods based on the truncated Wigner approach. This allows spatial and statistical effects to be examined simultaneously, and the linewidth limit for unpumped atom lasers is quantified in various limits.