5,123 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Localization from quantum interference in one-dimensional disordered potentials
We show that the tails of the asymptotic density distribution of a quantum
wave packet that localizes in the the presence of random or quasiperiodic
disorder can be described by the diagonal term of the projection over the
eingenstates of the disordered potential. This is equivalent of assuming a
phase randomization of the off-diagonal/interference terms. We demonstrate
these results through numerical calculations of the dynamics of ultracold atoms
in the one-dimensional speckle and quasiperiodic potentials used in the recent
experiments that lead to the observation of Anderson localization for matter
waves [Billy et al., Nature 453, 891 (2008); Roati et al., Nature 453, 895
(2008)]. For the quasiperiodic case, we also discuss the implications of using
continuos or discrete models.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; minor changes, references update
Stochastic resonance in periodic potentials: realization in a dissipative optical lattice
We have observed the phenomenon of stochastic resonance on the Brillouin
propagation modes of a dissipative optical lattice. Such a mode has been
excited by applying a moving potential modulation with phase velocity equal to
the velocity of the mode. Its amplitude has been characterized by the
center-of-mass (CM) velocity of the atomic cloud. At Brillouin resonance, we
studied the CM-velocity as a function of the optical pumping rate at a given
depth of the potential wells. We have observed a resonant dependence of the CM
velocity on the optical pumping rate, corresponding to the noise strength. This
corresponds to the experimental observation of stochastic resonance in a
periodic potential in the low-damping regime
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