Direct measurement of the Atom number in a Bose condensate.

We report on directly measuring the atom number in a Bose- Einstein condensate by the method of optical pumping. Only the branching ratio of the spontaneous decay in the system and the absorption energy of a probe laser beam are required to determine the atom number. The measured absorption energy is not affected by the measurement condition such as the intensity, detuning, and polarization of the probe beam, the magnetic field, etc. We have shown that atom numbers as low as a few thousands can be measured. The atom number is an important parameter in the studies of Bose condensates and its accuracy is greatly improved by this sensitive and robust method.