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From: dlzc on 2 Aug 2010 17:54
Dear pellis:

On Aug 2, 11:50 am, pellis <pel...(a)london.edu> wrote:
> "Spinor condensates" seem to be coming up quite
> frequently in the literature now. Can someone please
> tell me precisely what this term refers to.

Like:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1007.2342
.... you might browse arxiv.org, in case you haven't already.
Sometimes the best definition of a newly coined term can be had by
context.

> While it seems to refer to Bose Einstein Condensates,

Which are undifferentiable, marginally spatially localized, *single
states*.

> and I have an elementary appreciation of what spinors
> are - what characteristic requires a gas or condensed
> gas of atomic systems to be labeled with a term usually
> reserved, as far as I'm aware, for the description of
> single particles?

BEC are (essentially) a single particle, a singularity, until you do
something to them.

> Is it just a fancy name for a condensate of bosonic
> atoms with unpaired electron spin(s)?

No, I think it is talking about a cloud with the particular property
"et al".

> Thanks for any clarification - Pellis

I probably didn't help. Adding s.p.relativity where those more in the
know sometimes lurk. Sometimes I have to be wrong, to attract a right
answer... ;>P

Noise level in sci.physics is just too high.

David A. Smith
From: pellis on 3 Aug 2010 15:49
On Aug 2, 10:54 pm, dlzc <dl...(a)cox.net> wrote:

>> Can someone please
>> tell me precisely what this term refers to.

> Like:http://arxiv.org/abs/1007.2342
> ... you might browse arxiv.org, in case you haven't already.

Yes, in fact I had seen that very article, but it left me with
unanswered questions as it seemed to presume slightly more familiarity
than I could bring to it.

Since my post I've found J M Petit's PhD thesis http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0606268
which is, understandably, a bit more explanatory; but haven't made the
time to go through it yet.

> Sometimes the best definition of a newly coined term can be had by
> context.

I agree in general, but in this instance had made little progress that
way.

>
> > While it seems to refer to Bose Einstein Condensates,
>
> Which are undifferentiable, marginally spatially localized, *single
> states*.

Yes, that seems a good way to put it, thanks.
>
[snip].
>
> BEC are (essentially) a single particle, a singularity, until you do
> something to them.
>

OK...like any quantum state?

> > Is it just a fancy name for a condensate of bosonic
> > atoms with unpaired electron spin(s)?
>
> No, I think it is talking about a cloud with the particular property
> "et al".

But I'm still unclear as to why the term 'spinor' (as opposed to, say,
'singlet' or 'triplet state') is attached.

> I probably didn't help.  Adding s.p.relativity where those more in the
> know sometimes lurk.  Sometimes I have to be wrong, to attract a right
> answer... ;>P
>
[snip]
> David A. Smith

Thanks for taking my question seriously, and for providing encouraging
hints.

And I hadn't thought of asking s.p.rel - let's see if anyone comes
down from the mountain...

Paul

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