Abstract

Bose Einstein Condensates (BEC) opened the way for realization of atomic ensembles with Heisenberg limited uncertainty. In microgravity extremely dilute samples of BEC can be obtained and observed after a free evolution on timescales of seconds. Applications range from atom optics to matter wave interferometry. This has led us to realize a BEC of 100 0 0 ⁸⁷Rb atoms in microgravity. The experimental results (to be published) establish the fact, that in a microgravity environment ultra-large condensates (≈1.5 mm) after a free evolution of 1 second can be observed. In particular, microgravity provides mass independent conhning potential which is very important for the research on a mixture of quantum gases. We aim to realize a new setup for multispecies experiments, which can be used in catapult mode doubling the time for microgravity to 9 seconds. The experiment is planned to use ⁸⁷Rb and ⁴⁰K as degenerate Bose and Fermi gases respectively and can be used to carry out experiments on interferometry, Bose-Fermi mixtures and tests of the weak equivalence principle in quantum domain. Up to date progress and future prospects of this ambitious and technically challenging project will be presented.

© 2009 IEEE