4,942 research outputs found
Backaction-Driven Transport of Bloch Oscillating Atoms in Ring Cavities
We predict that an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate strongly coupled to an
intracavity optical lattice can undergo resonant tunneling and directed
transport when a constant and uniform bias force is applied. The bias force
induces Bloch oscillations, causing amplitude and phase modulation of the
lattice which resonantly modifies the site-to-site tunneling. For the right
choice of parameters a net atomic current is generated. The transport velocity
can be oriented oppositely to the bias force, with its amplitude and direction
controlled by the detuning between the pump laser and the cavity. The transport
can also be enhanced through imbalanced pumping of the two counter-propagating
running wave cavity modes. Our results add to the cold atoms quantum simulation
toolbox, with implications for quantum sensing and metrology.Comment: Published version: 5 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary Material
include
Dicke-type phase transition in a multimode optomechanical system
We consider the "membrane in the middle" optomechanical model consisting of a
laser pumped cavity which is divided in two by a flexible membrane that is
partially transmissive to light and subject to radiation pressure. Steady state
solutions at the mean-field level reveal that there is a critical strength of
the light-membrane coupling above which there is a symmetry breaking
bifurcation where the membrane spontaneously acquires a displacement either to
the left or the right. This bifurcation bears many of the signatures of a
second order phase transition and we compare and contrast it with that found in
the Dicke model. In particular, by studying limiting cases and deriving
dynamical critical exponents using the fidelity susceptibility method, we argue
that the two models share very similar critical behaviour. For example, the
obtained critical exponents indicate that they fall within the same
universality class. Away from the critical regime we identify, however, some
discrepancies between the two models. Our results are discussed in terms of
experimentally relevant parameters and we evaluate the prospects for realizing
Dicke-type physics in these systems.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Impurity in a bosonic Josephson junction: swallowtail loops, chaos, self-trapping and the poor man's Dicke model
We study a model describing identical bosonic atoms trapped in a
double-well potential together with a single impurity atom, comparing and
contrasting it throughout with the Dicke model. As the boson-impurity coupling
strength is varied, there is a symmetry-breaking pitchfork bifurcation which is
analogous to the quantum phase transition occurring in the Dicke model. Through
stability analysis around the bifurcation point, we show that the critical
value of the coupling strength has the same dependence on the parameters as the
critical coupling value in the Dicke model. We also show that, like the Dicke
model, the mean-field dynamics go from being regular to chaotic above the
bifurcation and macroscopic excitations of the bosons are observed. Overall,
the boson-impurity system behaves like a poor man's version of the Dicke model.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figure
Classical versus quantum dynamics of the atomic Josephson junction
We compare the classical (mean-field) dynamics with the quantum dynamics of
atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in double-well potentials. The quantum
dynamics are computed using a simple scheme based upon the Raman-Nath
equations. Two different methods for exciting a non-equilbrium state are
considered: an asymmetry between the wells which is suddenly removed, and a
periodic time oscillating asymmetry. The first method generates wave packets
that lead to collapses and revivals of the expectation values of the
macroscopic variables, and we calculate the time scale for these revivals. The
second method permits the excitation of a single energy eigenstate of the
many-particle system, including Schroedinger cat states. We also discuss a band
theory interpretation of the energy level structure of an asymmetric
double-well, thereby identifying analogies to Bloch oscillations and Bragg
resonances. Both the Bloch and Bragg dynamics are purely quantum and are not
contained in the mean-field treatment.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figure
Structure formation during the collapse of a dipolar atomic Bose-Einstein condensate
We investigate the collapse of a trapped dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate.
This is performed by numerical simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and
the novel application of the Thomas-Fermi hydrodynamic equations to collapse.
We observe regimes of both global collapse, where the system evolves to a
highly elongated or flattened state depending on the sign of the dipolar
interaction, and local collapse, which arises due to dynamically unstable
phonon modes and leads to a periodic arrangement of density shells, disks or
stripes. In the adiabatic regime, where ground states are followed, collapse
can occur globally or locally, while in the non-adiabatic regime, where
collapse is initiated suddenly, local collapse commonly occurs. We analyse the
dependence on the dipolar interactions and trap geometry, the length and time
scales for collapse, and relate our findings to recent experiments.Comment: In this version (the published version) we have slightly rewritten
the manuscript in places and have corrected some typos. 15 pages and 13
figure
- …