Tunneling in the self-trapped regime of a two-well Bose-Einstein condensate

Starting from a mean-field model of the Bose-Einstein condensate dimer, we reintroduce classically forbidden tunneling through a Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization approach. We find closed-form approximations to the tunneling frequency more accurate than those previously obtained using different techniques. We discuss the central role that tunneling in the self-trapped regime plays in a quantitatively accurate model of a dissipative dimer leaking atoms to the environment. Finally, we describe the prospects of experimental observation of tunneling in the self-trapped regime, both with and without dissipation.We wish to thank Wolfgang Muessel, Markus Oberthaler, Kaspar Sakmann, Andrea Trombettoni, Stephanos Venakides, and Tilman Zibold for helpful discussions. We are also grateful for the hospitality of Joshua E. S. Socolar and the Duke University Physics Department. This work was supported in part by Boston University. D.W. acknowledges support from the Helmholtz Association (Grant No. VH-NG-1025). (Boston University; VH-NG-1025 - Helmholtz Association)First author draf