Temperature dependence of damping and frequency shifts of the scissors mode of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate

We have studied the properties of the scissors mode of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate of 87Rb atoms at finite temperature. We measured a significant shift in the frequency of the mode below the hydrodynamic limit and a strong dependence of the damping rate as the temperature increased. We compared our damping rate results to recent theoretical calculations for other observed collective modes, finding a fair agreement. From the frequency measurements we deduce the moment of inertia of the gas and show that it is quenched below the transition point, because of the superfluid nature of the condensed gas.