6,400 research outputs found
Phase-control of directed diffusion in a symmetric optical lattice
We demonstrate the phenomenon of directed diffusion in a symmetric periodic
potential. This has been realized with cold atoms in a one-dimensional
dissipative optical lattice. The stochastic process of optical pumping leads to
a diffusive dynamics of the atoms through the periodic structure, while a
zero-mean force which breaks the temporal symmetry of the system is applied by
phase-modulating one of the lattice beams. The atoms are set into directed
motion as a result of the breaking of the temporal symmetry of the system
Density modulations in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate released from a disordered potential
We observe large density modulations in time-of-flight images of elongated
Bose-Einstein condensates, initially confined in a harmonic trap and in the
presence of weak disorder. The development of these modulations during the
time-of-flight and their dependence with the disorder are investigated. We
render an account of this effect using numerical and analytical calculations.
We conclude that the observed large density modulations originate from the weak
initial density modulations induced by the disorder, and not from initial phase
fluctuations (thermal or quantum).Comment: Published version; 4+ pages; 4 figure
Rayleigh scattering and atomic dynamics in dissipative optical lattices
We investigate Rayleigh scattering in dissipative optical lattices. In particular, following recent proposals [S. Guibal et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 4709 (1997); C. Jurczak et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1727 (1996)], we study whether the Rayleigh resonance originates from the diffraction on a density grating and is therefore a probe of transport of atoms in optical lattices. It turns out that this is not the case: the Rayleigh line is instead a measure of the cooling rate, while spatial diffusion contributes to the scattering spectrum with a much broader resonance
Directed transport of Brownian particles in a double symmetric potential
We investigate the dynamics of Brownian particles in internal state-
dependent symmetric and periodic potentials. Although no space or time symmetry
of the Hamiltonian is broken, we show that directed transport can appear. We
demonstrate that the directed motion is induced by breaking the symmetry of the
transition rates between the potentials when these are spatially shifted.
Finally, we discuss the possibility of realizing our model in a system of cold
particles trapped in optical lattices.Comment: to appear in Physical Review
Bose-Einstein Condensates in Optical Quasicrystal Lattices
We analyze the physics of Bose-Einstein condensates confined in 2D
quasi-periodic optical lattices, which offer an intermediate situation between
ordered and disordered systems. First, we analyze the time-of-flight
interference pattern that reveals quasi-periodic long-range order. Second, we
demonstrate localization effects associated with quasi-disorder as well as
quasiperiodic Bloch oscillations associated with the extended nature of the
wavefunction of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical quasicrystal. In
addition, we discuss in detail the crossover between diffusive and localized
regimes when the quasi-periodic potential is switched on, as well as the
effects of interactions
Atomic Fermi-Bose mixtures in inhomogeneous and random lattices: From Fermi glass to quantum spin glass and quantum percolation
We investigate atomic Fermi-Bose mixtures in inhomogeneous and random optical
lattices in the limit of strong atom-atom interactions. We derive the effective
Hamiltonian describing the dynamics of the system and discuss its low
temperature physics. We demonstrate possibility of controlling the interactions
at local level in inhomogeneous but regular lattices. Such a control leads to
the achievement of Fermi glass, quantum Fermi spin glass, and quantum
percolation regimes involving bare and/or composite fermions in random
lattices.Comment: minor changes; Physical Review Letters 93, 040401 (2004
Localization of solitons: linear response of the mean-field ground state to weak external potentials
Two aspects of bright matter-wave solitons in weak external potentials are
discussed. First, we briefly review recent results on the Anderson localization
of an entire soliton in disordered potentials [Sacha et al. PRL 103, 210402
(2009)], as a paradigmatic showcase of genuine quantum dynamics beyond simple
perturbation theory. Second, we calculate the linear response of the mean-field
soliton shape to a weak, but otherwise arbitrary external potential, with a
detailed application to lattice potentials.Comment: Selected paper presented at the 2010 Spring Meeting of the Quantum
Optics and Photonics Section of the German Physical Society. V2: minor
changes, published versio
Localized and extended states in a disordered trap
We study Anderson localization in a disordered potential combined with an
inhomogeneous trap. We show that the spectrum displays both localized and
extended states, which coexist at intermediate energies. In the region of
coexistence, we find that the extended states result from confinement by the
trap and are weakly affected by the disorder. Conversely, the localized states
correspond to eigenstates of the disordered potential, which are only affected
by the trap via an inhomogeneous energy shift. These results are relevant to
disordered quantum gases and we propose a realistic scheme to observe the
coexistence of localized and extended states in these systems.Comment: Published versio
Disordered Bose Einstein Condensates with Interaction in One Dimension
We study the effects of random scatterers on the ground state of the
one-dimensional Lieb-Liniger model of interacting bosons on the unit interval
in the Gross-Pitaevskii regime. We prove that Bose Einstein condensation
survives even a strong random potential with a high density of scatterers. The
character of the wave function of the condensate, however, depends in an
essential way on the interplay between randomness and the strength of the
two-body interaction. For low density of scatterers or strong interactions the
wave function extends over the whole interval. High density of scatterers and
weak interaction, on the other hand, leads to localization of the wave function
in a fragmented subset of the interval
Dipole Oscillations of a Fermi Gas in a Disordered Trap: Damping and Localization
We theoretically study the dipole oscillations of an ideal Fermi gas in a
disordered trap. We show that even weak disorder induces strong damping of the
oscillations and we identify a metal-insulator crossover. For very weak
disorder, we show that damping results from a dephasing effect related to weak
random perturbations of the energy spectrum. For increasing disorder, we show
that the Fermi gas crosses over to an insulating regime characterized by
strong-damping due to the proliferation of localized states.Comment: published as EPL 88 (2009) 3000
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