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Abstract
We report on the first realization of a single bosonic Josephson junction, implemented
by two weakly linked Bose-Einstein condensates in a double-well potential. In order
to fully investigate the nonlinear tunneling dynamics we measure the density distribution
in situ and deduce the relative phase between the two condensates from interference
fringes. Our results verify the predicted nonlinear generalization of tunneling oscillations
in superconducting and superfluid Josephson junctions. Additionally we confirm a novel
nonlinear effect known as macroscopic quantum self-trapping, which leads to the inhibition
of large amplitude tunneling oscillations.