Mesoscopic phenomena in Bose-Einstein systems: Persistent currents, population oscillations, and quantal phases - art. no. 043609

Mesoscopic phenomena-including population oscillations and persistent curre nts driven by quantal phases-are explored theoretically in the context of m ultiply connected Bose-Einstein systems composed of trapped alkali-metal ga s atoms. These atomic phenomena are bosonic analogs of electronic persisten t currents in normal metals and Little-Parks oscillations in superconductor s. Differences between oscillatory phenomena due to quantal phases in Bose- Einstein systems and in conventional superconductors are discussed, particu larly with regard to their potential for discriminating between the standar d BCS scenario and the Bose-Einstein condensation of preformed pairs scenar io for the superconducting transition in high-temperature superconductors.