We show that there exists bistability in coherent photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate and investigate the corresponding quantum fluctuations. The simple analytical expressions obtained demonstrate clearly how to sweep adiabatically the frequency of the driving laser to convert a condensate of atoms into a condensate of molecules in an optimum and deterministic way.

• Received 22 November 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.65.053603