Tuning the interactions of spin-polarized fermions using quasi-one-dimensional confinement

The behavior of ultracold atomic gases depends crucially on the two-body scattering properties of these systems. We develop a multichannel scattering theory for atom-atom collisions in quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) geometries such as atomic waveguides or highly elongated traps. We apply our general framework to the low energy scattering of two spin-polarized fermions and show that tightly-confined fermions have infinitely strong interactions at a particular value of the 3D, free-space p-wave scattering volume. Moreover, we describe a mapping of this strongly interacting system of two quasi-1D fermions to a weakly interacting system of two 1D bosons.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Dipolar Bose gases: Many-body versus mean-field description

We characterize zero-temperature dipolar Bose gases under external spherical confinement as a function of the dipole strength using the essentially exact many-body diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) technique. We show that the DMC energies are reproduced accurately within a mean-field framework if the variation of the s-wave scattering length with the dipole strength is accounted for properly. Our calculations suggest stability diagrams and collapse mechanisms of dipolar Bose gases that differ significantly from those previously proposed in the literature

Quantum Monte Carlo study of quasi-one-dimensional Bose gases

We study the behavior of quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1d) Bose gases by Monte Carlo techniques, i.e., by the variational Monte Carlo, the diffusion Monte Carlo, and the fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo technique. Our calculations confirm and extend our results of an earlier study [Astrakharchik et al., cond-mat/0308585]. We find that a quasi-1d Bose gas i) is well described by a 1d model Hamiltonian with contact interactions and renormalized coupling constant; ii) reaches the Tonks-Girardeau regime for a critical value of the 3d scattering length a_3d; iii) enters a unitary regime for |a_3d| -> infinity, where the properties of the gas are independent of a_3d and are similar to those of a 1d gas of hard-rods; and iv) becomes unstable against cluster formation for a critical value of the 1d gas parameter. The accuracy and implications of our results are discussed in detail.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Effective renormalized multi-body interactions of harmonically confined ultracold neutral bosons

We calculate the renormalized effective 2-, 3-, and 4-body interactions for N neutral ultracold bosons in the ground state of an isotropic harmonic trap, assuming 2-body interactions modeled with the combination of a zero-range and energy-dependent pseudopotential. We work to third-order in the scattering length a defined at zero collision energy, which is necessary to obtain both the leading-order effective 4-body interaction and consistently include finite-range corrections for realistic 2-body interactions. The leading-order, effective 3- and 4-body interaction energies are U3 = -(0.85576...)(a/l)^2 + 2.7921(1)(a/l)^3 + O[(a/l)^4] and U4 = +(2.43317...)(a/l)^3 + O[(a\l)^4], where w and l are the harmonic oscillator frequency and length, respectively, and energies are in units of hbar*w. The one-standard deviation error 0.0001 for the third-order coefficient in U3 is due to numerical uncertainty in estimating a slowly converging sum; the other two coefficients are either analytically or numerically exact. The effective 3- and 4-body interactions can play an important role in the dynamics of tightly confined and strongly correlated systems. We also performed numerical simulations for a finite-range boson-boson potential, and it was comparison to the zero-range predictions which revealed that finite-range effects must be taken into account for a realistic third-order treatment. In particular, we show that the energy-dependent pseudopotential accurately captures, through third order, the finite-range physics, and in combination with the multi-body effective interactions gives excellent agreement with the numerical simulations, validating our theoretical analysis and predictions.Comment: Updated introduction, correction of a few typos and sign error

Tuning the structural and dynamical properties of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate: Ripples and instability islands

It is now well established that the stability of aligned dipolar Bose gases can be tuned by varying the aspect ratio of the external harmonic confinement. This paper extends this idea and demonstrates that a Gaussian barrier along the strong confinement direction can be employed to tune both the structural properties and the dynamical stability of an oblate dipolar Bose gas aligned along the strong confinement direction. In particular, our theoretical mean-field analysis predicts the existence of instability islands immersed in otherwise stable regions of the phase diagram. Dynamical studies indicate that these instability islands, which can be probed experimentally with present-day technology, are associated with the going soft of a Bogoliubov--de Gennes excitation frequency with radial breathing mode character. Furthermore, we find dynamically stable ground state densities with ripple-like oscillations along the radial direction. These structured ground states exist in the vicinity of a dynamical radial roton-like instability.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Feshbach Resonance Cooling of Trapped Atom Pairs

Spectroscopic studies of few-body systems at ultracold temperatures provide valuable information that often cannot be extracted in a hot environment. Considering a pair of atoms, we propose a cooling mechanism that makes use of a scattering Feshbach resonance. Application of a series of time-dependent magnetic field ramps results in the situation in which either zero, one, or two atoms remain trapped. If two atoms remain in the trap after the field ramps are completed, then they have been cooled. Application of the proposed cooling mechanism to optical traps or lattices is considered.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; v.2: major conceptual change