Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Condensed Matter Lunch Seminar, 12:00 PM (noon), 319 Allen Hall, PITT
(Pizza will be provided.  Please note special time, day and location)

Prof. Han Pu
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University

"Dipolar Quantum Gases"

Abstract

For most ultracold atomic systems, the only important inter-atom interaction is the short-ranged s-wave collision. However, recent realization of chromium condensate and ultracold polar molecules has stimulated great interest in dipolar quantum gases. In such systems, atoms or molecules also interact with each other via strong dipole-dipole interactions. The anisotropic and long-range nature of the dipolar interaction leads to a rich variety of novel phenomena. In this talk, I will discuss interesting properties of both dipolar Bose condensates and dipolar Fermi gases.