Modeling a sodium spinor condensate

An optically trapped condensate of F=1 sodium atoms shows coherent oscillations of the spin populations. These oscillations are well described by a theory based on the assumption that the three spin projections of the condensate share a single spatial mode [1]. Some time after the initial state preparation the oscillations damp and the system arrives in a state consistent with the ground state predictions of this theory. The transition from coherent oscillations to a ground state, however, is not understood. In this poster we describe a numerical model based on a three- component coupled Gross Pitaevskii equation that simulates the behaviour of the gas. The model shows a coupling of spin interactions to motional degrees of freedom and shows behaviour similar to that seen in experiment. We also describe our efforts to produce an analytic model of this system. [1] W. Zhang et al, Phys. Rev. A, 72, 013602 (2005)