Spin dynamics and structure formation in a spin-1 condensate in a magnetic field

We study the dynamics of a trapped spin-1 condensate in a magnetic field. First, we analyze the homogeneous system, for which the dynamics can be understood in terms of orbits in phase space. We analytically solve for the dynamical evolution of the populations of the various Zeeman components of the homogeneous system. This result is then applied via a local-density approximation to trapped quasi-one-dimensional condensates. Our analysis of the trapped system in a magnetic field shows that both the mean-field and Zeeman regimes are simultaneously realized, and we argue that the border between these two regions is where spin domains and phase defects are generated. We propose a method to experimentally tune the position of this border

Spectral statistics of molecular resonances in erbium isotopes: How chaotic are they?

We perform a comprehensive analysis of the spectral statistics of the molecular resonances in $^{166}$Er and $^{168}$Er observed in recent ultracold collision experiments [Frisch et al., Nature {\bf 507}, 475 (2014)] with the aim of determining the chaoticity of this system. We calculate different independent statistical properties to check their degree of agreement with random matrix theory (RMT), and analyze if they are consistent with the possibility of having missing resonances. The analysis of the short-range fluctuations as a function of the magnetic field points to a steady increase of chaoticity until $B \sim 30$ G. The repulsion parameter decreases for higher magnetic fields, an effect that can be interpreted as due to missing resonances. The analysis of long-range fluctuations allows us to be more quantitative and estimate a $20-25\%$ fraction of missing levels. Finally, a study of the distribution of resonance widths provides additional evidence supporting missing resonances of small width compared with the experimental magnetic field resolution. We conclude that further measurements with increased resolution will be necessary to give a final answer to the problem of missing resonances and the agreement with RMT.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Density functional study of two-dimensional He-4 clusters

Binding energies and density profiles of two-dimensional systems of liquid He-4 with different geometries are studied by means of a zero-range density functional adjusted to reproduce the line tension obtained in a previous diffusion Monte Carlo calculation (lambda_{DMC}=0.121 K/A). It is shown that this density functional provides accurate results for the binding energy of large clusters with a reasonable computational effort.Comment: RevTeX4, 11 pages + 2 tables + 6 figure

Spin mixing in colliding spinor condensates: formation of an effective barrier

The dynamics of F=1 spinor condensates initially prepared in a double-well potential is studied in the mean field approach. It is shown that a small seed of $m=0$ atoms on a system with initially well separated m=1 and m=-1 condensates has a dramatic effect on their mixing dynamics, acting as an effective barrier for a remarkably long time. We show that this effect is due to the spinor character of the system, and provides an observable example of the interplay between the internal spin dynamics and the macroscopic evolution of the magnetization in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: Accepted for publication at the Europhysics Letter

Predicting spinor condensate dynamics from simple principles

We study the spin dynamics of quasi-one-dimensional F=1 condensates both at zero and finite temperatures for arbitrary initial spin configurations. The rich dynamical evolution exhibited by these non-linear systems is explained by surprisingly simple principles: minimization of energy at zero temperature, and maximization of entropy at high temperature. Our analytical results for the homogeneous case are corroborated by numerical simulations for confined condensates in a wide variety of initial conditions. These predictions compare qualitatively well with recent experimental observations and can, therefore, serve as a guidance for on-going experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. v3: matches version appeared in PR

Fluctuations of work in realistic equilibrium states of quantum systems with conserved quantities

The out-of-equilibrium dynamics of quantum systems is one of the most fascinating problems in physics, with outstanding open questions on issues such as relaxation to equilibrium. An area of particular interest concerns few-body systems, where quantum and thermal fluctuations are expected to be especially relevant. In this contribution, we present numerical results demonstrating the impact of conserved quantities (or 'charges') in the outcomes of out-of-equilibrium measurements starting from realistic equilibrium states on a few-body system implementing the Dicke model.Comment: 12 pages, 1 fig. Contribution to Proceedings of the 24th European Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics (EFB24). Matches journal version published under CC BY 4.

Temperature-independent quantum logic for molecular spectroscopy

We propose a fast and non-destructive spectroscopic method for single molecular ions that implements quantum logic schemes between an atomic ion and the molecular ion of interest. Our proposal relies on a hybrid coherent manipulation of the two-ion system, using optical or magnetic forces depending on the types of molecular levels to be addressed (Zeeman, rotational, vibrational or electronic degrees of freedom). The method is especially suited for the non-destructive precision spectroscopy of single molecular ions, and sets a starting point for new hybrid quantum computation schemes that combine molecular and atomic ions, covering the measurement and entangling steps.Comment: v3. Substantially enlarged manuscript with details of derivations and calculations in two appendices. To appear in PR

Topological phase transitions between chiral and helical spin textures in a lattice with spin-orbit coupling and a magnetic field

We consider the combined effects of large spin-orbit couplings and a perpendicular magnetic field in a 2D honeycomb fermionic lattice. This system provides an elegant setup to generate versatile spin textures propagating along the edge of a sample. The spin-orbit coupling is shown to induce topological phase transitions between a helical quantum spin Hall phase and a chiral spin-imbalanced quantum Hall state. Besides, we find that the spin orientation of a single topological edge state can be tuned by a Rashba spin-orbit coupling, opening an interesting route towards quantum spin manipulation. We discuss the possible realization of our results using cold atoms trapped in optical lattices, where large synthetic magnetic fields and spin-orbit couplings can be engineered and finely tuned. In particular, this system would lead to the observation of a time-reversal-symmetry-broken quantum spin Hall phase.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Accepted in Europhys. Lett. (Dec 2011