968 research outputs found
Mode-locking and mode-competition in a non-equilibrium solid-state condensate
A trapped polariton condensate with continuous pumping and decay is analyzed
using a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii model. Whereas an equilibrium condensate
is characterized by a macroscopic occupation of a ground state, here the
steady-states take more general forms. Some are characterized by a large
population in an excited state, and others by large populations in several
states. In the latter case, the highly-populated states synchronize to a common
frequency above a critical density. Estimates for the critical density of this
synchronization transition are consistent with experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Breakdown of counterflow superfluidity in a disordered quantum Hall bilayer
We present a theory for the regime of coherent interlayer tunneling in a
disordered quantum Hall bilayer at total filling factor one, allowing for the
effect of static vortices. We find that the system consists of domains of
polarized superfluid phase. Injected currents introduce phase slips between the
polarized domains which are pinned by disorder. We present a model of saturated
tunneling domains that predicts a critical current for the breakdown of
coherent tunneling that is extensive in the system size. This theory is
supported by numerical results from a disordered phase model in two dimensions.
We also discuss how our picture might be used to interpret experiments in the
counterflow geometry and in two-terminal measurements.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Conical diffraction and the dispersion surface of hyperbolic metamaterials
Hyperbolic metamaterials are materials in which at least one principal
dielectric constant is negative. We describe the refractive index surface, and
the resulting refraction effects, for a biaxial hyperbolic metamaterial, with
principal dielectric constants , . In
this general case the two sheets of the index surface intersect forming conical
singularities. We derive the ray description of conical refraction in these
materials, and show that it is topologically and quantitatively distinct from
conical refraction in a conventional biaxial material. We also develop a wave
optics description, which allows us to obtain the diffraction patterns formed
from arbitrary beams incident close to the optic axis. The resulting patterns
lack circular symmetry, and hence are qualitatively different from those
obtained in conventional, positive index materials.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Amplitude-mode dynamics of polariton condensates
We study the stability of collective amplitude excitations in non-equilibrium
polariton condensates. These excitations correspond to renormalized upper
polaritons and to the collective amplitude modes of atomic gases and
superconductors. They would be present following a quantum quench or could be
created directly by resonant excitation. We show that uniform amplitude
excitations are unstable to the production of excitations at finite
wavevectors, leading to the formation of density-modulated phases. The physical
processes causing the instabilities can be understood by analogy to optical
parametric oscillators and the atomic Bose supernova.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
The new physics of non-equilibrium condensates: insights from classical dynamics
We discuss the dynamics of classical Dicke-type models, aiming to clarify the
mechanisms by which coherent states could develop in potentially
non-equilibrium systems such as semiconductor microcavities. We present
simulations of an undamped model which show spontaneous coherent states with
persistent oscillations in the magnitude of the order parameter. These states
are generalisations of superradiant ringing to the case of inhomogeneous
broadening. They correspond to the persistent gap oscillations proposed in
fermionic atomic condensates, and arise from a variety of initial conditions.
We show that introducing randomness into the couplings can suppress the
oscillations, leading to a limiting dynamics with a time-independent order
parameter. This demonstrates that non-equilibrium generalisations of polariton
condensates can be created even without dissipation. We explain the dynamical
origins of the coherence in terms of instabilities of the normal state, and
consider how it can additionally develop through scattering and dissipation.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted for a special issue of J. Phys.:
Condensed Matter on "Optical coherence and collective phenomena in
nanostructures". v2: added discussion of links to exact solution
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