Diagnostics for the ground state phase of a spin-2 Bose-Einstein condensate

We propose a method to determine the singlet-pair energy of a spin-2 Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). By preparing the initial populations in the magnetic sublevels 0, 2, -2 with appropriate relative phases, we can obtain the coefficient of the spin singlet-pair term from the spin exchange dynamics. This method is suitable for hyperfine states with short lifetimes, since only the initial change in the population of each magnetic sublevel is needed. This method therefore enables the determination of the ground state phase of a spin-2 87Rb BEC at zero magnetic field, which is considered to lie in the immediate vicinity of the boundary between the antiferromagnetic and cyclic phases. We also show that the initial state in which relative phases are controlled can be prepared by Raman processes.