INTERFERENCE OF BOSE CONDENSATES

We investigate the prospects of atomic interference using samples of B ose condensed atoms. First we show the ability of two independent Bose condensates to create an interference pattern. This holds even if bot h condensates are described by Fock states. Thus, the existence of an experimental signature for a broken gauge symmetry, seen in a single r un of the experiment, is not necessarily reflected by a broken symmetr y on the level of the quantum mechanical state vector. Based on these results, we simulate numerically a recent experiment with two independ ent Bose condensates [K. B. Davis ed al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3969 (1 995)]. The existence of interference fringes is predicted based on the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Finally we study theoretically the in fluence of finite temperatures on the visibility of the interference i n a double pinhole configuration.