A team studying Bose-Einstein condensates of dipolar molecules reports observing electrostriction — an elliptical deformation of the condensate driven by anisotropic dipolar interactions — according to an unreviewed preprint posted to arXiv. The experiment exploits a recently achieved molecular BEC and employs double microwave dressing, combining σ- and π-polarized fields, to engineer dipolar interactions that break axial symmetry and controllably distort the condensate's shape.
The authors compare their observations against simulations based on an extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation and report excellent agreement in the weak-to-moderate interaction regime. The paper claims, but has not yet been peer-reviewed to confirm, that the orientation of the elliptical deformation can be steered dynamically by rotating the σ microwave field, effectively torquing the condensate — a potential route to imparting angular momentum to a strongly dipolar quantum gas without mechanical stirring.
If the results hold up under peer review, the technique could provide a clean experimental handle for nucleating vortices and probing superfluidity and supersolidity in dipolar matter, phenomena that are difficult to access in conventional atomic BECs. The preprint has not yet undergone peer review, and the authors themselves note the model's agreement is limited to the weak-to-moderate interaction regime, leaving open questions about strongly interacting behavior.