Directed transport and Floquet analysis for a periodically kicked wavepacket at a quantum resonance

The dynamics of a kicked quantum mechanical wavepacket at a quantum resonance is studied in the framework of Floquet analysis. It is seen how a directed current can be created out of a homogeneous initial state at certain resonances in an asymmetric potential. The almost periodic parameter dependence of the current is found to be connected with level crossings in the Floquet spectrum.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Ratchet effect for cold atoms in an optical lattice

The realization of a directed current for a quantum particle in a flashing asymmetric potential is studied. It is found that a positive current, i.e. in the direction expected for a conventional diffusive ratchet, can be attained at short times in the limit where the potential is weak and quantum diffusion dominates, while current reversal is obtained for stronger potentials. A single parameter, the ratio between the kicking frequency and the optical lattice potential strength, determines both the degree to which quantum effects dominate, and the possibility of obtaining a ratchet current. The effect should be readily observable in experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Construction of a giant vortex state in a trapped Fermi system

A superfluid atomic Fermi system may support a giant vortex if the trapping potential is anharmonic. In such a potential, the single-particle spectrum has a positive curvature as a function of angular momentum. A tractable model is put up in which the lowest and next lowest Landau levels are occupied. Different parameter regimes are identified and characterized. Due to the dependence of the interaction on angular momentum quantum number, the Cooper pairing is at its strongest not only close to the Fermi level, but also close to the energy minimum. It is shown that the gas is superfluid in the interior of the toroidal density distribution and normal in the outer regions. Furthermore, the pairing may give rise to a localized density depression in configuration space.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure file