Splitting a trap containing a Bose-Einstein condensate: Atom number fluctuations

We theoretically study atom number fluctuations between the halves of a double-well trap containing a Bose-Einstein condensate. The basic tool is the two-mode approximation, which assumes that only two one-particle states are involved. An analytical harmonic-oscillator-like model is developed and verified numerically for both stationary fluctuations in the ground state of the system, and for the fluctuations resulting from splitting of a single trap by dynamically erecting a barrier in the middle. With increasing strength of the atom-atom interactions and/or increasing height of the potential barrier, the fluctuations tend to evolve from Poissonian to sub-Poissonian. Limits of validity of the two-mode model and its relations to the phase-atom-number approach of Leggett and Sols [A. J. Leggett and F. Sols, Found. Phys. 21, 353 (1991)] are discussed in detail. [S1050-2947(99)07809-9].