Abstract. A microscopic Ioffe-Pritchard trap is formed using a straight, currentcarrying wire, together with suitable auxiliary magnetic fields. By measuring the distribution of cold rubidium atoms held in this trap, we detect a weak magnetic field component ∆B z parallel to the wire. This field is proportional to the current in the wire and is approximately periodic along the wire with period λ = 230 µm. We find that the decrease of this field with distance from the centre of the wire is well described by the Bessel function K 1 (2πy/λ), as one would expect for the far field of a transversely oscillating current within the wire.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.