Phase diagram of spin 1 antiferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensates

We study experimentally the equilibrium phase diagram of a spin 1 Bose-Einstein condensate with antiferromagnetic interactions, in a regime where spin and spatial degrees of freedom are decoupled. For a given total magnetization mz, we observe for low magnetic fields an "antiferromagnetic" phase where atoms condense in the m=+/-1 Zeeman states, and occupation of the m=0 state is suppressed. Conversely, for large enough magnetic fields, a phase transition to a "broken axisymmetry" phase takes place: The m=0 component becomes populated and rises sharply above a critical field Bc(mz). This behavior results from the competition between antiferromagnetic spin-dependent interactions (dominant at low fields) and the quadratic Zeeman energy (dominant at large fields). We compare the measured Bc as well as the global shape of the phase diagram with mean-field theory, and find good quantitative agreement.

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