Spin-dipole oscillation and polarizability of a binary Bose-Einstein condensate near the miscible-immiscible phase transition

We report on the measurement of the spin-dipole (SD) polarizability and of the frequency of the SD oscillation of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms occupying the |30.16em0ex²S1/2,F=1,mF=±1 hyperfine states. This binary spin mixture presents the important properties of being, at the same time, fully miscible and rid of the limit set by buoyancy. It is also characterized by a huge enhancement of the SD polarizability and by the consequent softening of the frequency of the SD oscillation, due to the vicinity to the transition to the immiscible phase. The experimental data are successfully compared with the predictions of theory.