Full-size Photo Gallery

This is a series of false-color images showing the formation of an 85Rb Bose-Einstein condesate (BEC), taken from my thesis work in the group of Carl Wieman at the Univeristy of Colorado. The heights of the features shown are proportional to the column density of atoms in the gas and are plotted as a function of position. Each successive frame shows the gas at colder temperatures. The top frame shows the gas right at the transition temperature. The BEC can be seen emerging as the higher density central feature from the thermal distribution in the second frame. In the last frame, the temperature has been reduced enough that the thermal (i.e. non-BEC) part of the gas can no longer be seen. The formation of BECs in a novel way is one of the goals of my current research program.