Modeling Ultracold Atomic Clouds Confined by Atom-chip Magnetic Traps

NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) conducts experiments on ultracold atoms in orbital microgravity using microfabricated electromagnets (atom chips). We report on the creation of a generalized model, applicable to CAL experiments, for calculating the properties of magnetic traps associated with Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). While atom-chip BEC machines offer relative simplicity and compactness, such modeling tools are necessary to elucidate certain features (such as the aspect ratio of the trapped ultracold cloud) which might not be intuitive to typical users of the CAL facility. The model (written in Mathematica) is designed such that its interface and setting is generalized, so that users with different priorities or experimental goals, or who are unfamiliar with the code, could use it. We plan to use this model to inform the creation of radiofrequency-dressed magnetic traps and bubble-geometry BECs aboard CAL.