Field-induced topological pair-density wave states in a multilayer optical lattice

We study the superfluid phases of a Fermi gas in a multilayer optical lattice system in the presence of out-of-plane Zeeman field, as well as spin-orbit (SO) coupling. We show that the Zeeman field combined with the SO coupling leads to exotic topological pair-density wave (PDW) phases in which different layers possess different superfluid order parameters, even though each layer experiences the same Zeeman field and the SO coupling. We elucidate the mechanism of the emerging PDW phases, and characterize their topological properties by calculating the associated Chern numbers.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Hybrid air bearings for high speed turbo machinery

This PhD project is set out to develop a type of hybrid journal air bearings with reduced reliance on the supply of compressed air for mobile turbomachinery applications. The research work covers hydrostatic and hybrid journal air bearings with non-compliant clearance boundaries. The approach adopted combined numerical analysis based on CFD and experimental verification of the designs. The research can be divided into three sections. In the first section, numerical approaches to model hydrostatic and hybrid journal air bearings with a fixed clearance boundary were developed based on finite difference method (FDM) and finite volume method (FVM) respectively. In the second and third section, theoretical and experimental studies were performed on hydrostatic and hybrid journal air bearings. Performance of the bearings was investigated in non-rotational and rotational conditions. The analysis on stability and natural frequencies of rotor bearing system was performed using the linear bearing model. The unbalance responses of the rotor in the test rig were predicted using non-linear transient analysis and measured experimentally from 50k rpm to 120k rpm in rotor speed. Through the theoretical and experimental investigations of the hybrid journal air bearings, the objectives of the project have been implemented and the aims have been met

Synthetic Landau levels and spinor vortex matter on Haldane spherical surface with magnetic monopole

We present a flexible scheme to realize exact flat Landau levels on curved spherical geometry in a system of spinful cold atoms. This is achieved by Floquet engineering of a magnetic quadrupole field. We show that a synthetic monopole field in real space can be created. We prove that the system can be exactly mapped to the electron-monopole system on sphere, thus realizing Haldane's spherical geometry for fractional quantum Hall physics. The scheme works for either bosons or fermions. We investigate the ground state vortex pattern for an $s$-wave interacting atomic condensate by mapping this system to the classical Thompson's problem. We further study the distortion and stability of the vortex pattern when dipolar interaction is present. Our scheme is compatible with current experimental setup, and may serve as a promising route of investigating quantum Hall physics and exotic spinor vortex matter on curved space.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Two-component polariton condensate in optical microcavity

We present a scheme for engineering the extended two-component Bose-Hubbard model using polariton condensate supported by optical microcavity. Compared to the usual two-component Bose-Hubbard model with only Kerr nonlinearity, our model includes a nonlinear tunneling term which depends on the number difference of the particle in the two modes. In the mean field treatment, this model is an analog to a nonrigid pendulum with a variable pendulum length whose sign can be also changed. We study the dynamic and ground state properties of this model and show that there exists a first-order phase transition as the strength of the nonlinear tunneling rate is varied. Furthermore, we propose a scheme to obtain the polariton condensate wave function.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Dynamically manipulating topological physics and edge modes in a single degenerate optical cavity

We propose a scheme to simulate topological physics within a single degenerate cavity, whose modes are mapped to lattice sites. A crucial ingredient of the scheme is to construct a sharp boundary so that the open boundary condition can be implemented for this effective lattice system. In doing so, the topological properties of the system can manifest themselves on the edge states, which can be probed from the spectrum of an output cavity field. We demonstrate this with two examples: a static Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain and a periodically driven Floquet topological insulator. Our work opens up new avenues to explore exotic photonic topological phases inside a single optical cavity.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Quantum phase transition of Bose-Einstein condensates on a ring nonlinear lattice

We study the phase transitions in a one dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate on a ring whose atomic scattering length is modulated periodically along the ring. By using a modified Bogoliubov method to treat such a nonlinear lattice in the mean field approximation, we find that the phase transitions are of different orders when the modulation period is 2 and greater than 2. We further perform a full quantum mechanical treatment based on the time-evolving block decimation algorithm which confirms the mean field results and reveals interesting quantum behavior of the system. Our studies yield important knowledge of competing mechanisms behind the phase transitions and the quantum nature of this system.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure