Quantum Degenerate Bose Gases: Building the Testbed to Study Many Body Physics

The weak interactions inherent in dilute Bose Einstein Condensates make it an ideal testing ground for basic many body quantum theories; to an extent that is not possible in traditional condensed matter systems. Moreover, the use of Sodium as the atom of choice for BEC experiments yields immense advantages, the primary being the large number of atoms that can be placed in the BEC state and the low final temperatures of this state. This present work has been an exploration of the production and use of BECs of Na atoms for the study of superfluidity. A major portion of this work deals in the actual science of producing and manipulating large, cold samples of Na BECs using a distinct trapping scheme, the Optically Plugged Trap. Afterwards, the book focuses on the unique metastable nature of BEC states; from the very existence of a BEC state which is metastable with respect to the formation of molecules, to quantum vortices, to a metastability which is unique to the Optically Plugged Trapped detailed here. Also, a novel optical diagnostic scheme to probe one of these metastable states, a Vortex Lattice, is presented.