Output from an atom laser: theory vs. experiment

Atom lasers based on rf-outcoupling can be described by a set of coupled generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equations (GPE). We compare the theoretical predictions obtained by numerically integrating the time-dependent GPE of an effective one-dimensional model with recently measured experimental data for the F=2 and F=1 states of Rb-87. We conclude that the output of a rf-atom laser can be well described by this model.