Bose Einstein Condensates for Analogue Cosmology Experiments

Dissertation Committee Chair: James Williams, Chair
 
Committee: 
Gretchen Campbell, Co-Chair/Advisor
Ian Spielman
Theodore Jacobson
Ronald Walsworth, Dean's Representative
 
Abstract:
This thesis presents the construction and characterization of an experimental apparatus to produce sodium Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in  arbitrary potentials.
Particular attention is devoted to the study of toroidal BECs as platforms for analogue cosmology models.