170 research outputs found
Dipole and Bloch oscillations of cold atoms in a parabolic lattice
The paper studies the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded into a 1D
parabolic optical lattice, and excited by a sudden shift of the lattice center.
Depending on the magnitude of the initial shift, the condensate undergoes
either dipole or Bloch oscillations. The effects of dephasing and of atom-atom
interactions on these oscillations are discussed.Comment: 3 pages, to appear in proceeding of LPHYS'05 conference (July 4-8,
2005, Kyoto, Japan
Gravity-induced Wannier-Stark ladder in an optical lattice
We discuss the dynamics of ultracold atoms in an optical potential
accelerated by gravity. The positions and widths of the Wannier-Stark ladder of
resonances are obtained as metastable states. The metastable Wannier-Bloch
states oscillate in a single band with the Bloch period. The width of the
resonance gives the rate transition to the continuum.Comment: 5 pages + 8 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Quantum phase transition of condensed bosons in optical lattices
In this paper we study the superfluid-Mott-insulator phase transition of
ultracold dilute gas of bosonic atoms in an optical lattice by means of Green
function method and Bogliubov transformation as well. The superfluid-
Mott-insulator phase transition condition is determined by the energy-band
structure with an obvious interpretation of the transition mechanism. Moreover
the superfluid phase is explained explicitly from the energy spectrum derived
in terms of Bogliubov approach.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure
Conduction of Ultracold Fermions Through a Mesoscopic Channel
In a mesoscopic conductor electric resistance is detected even if the device
is defect-free. We engineer and study a cold-atom analog of a mesoscopic
conductor. It consists of a narrow channel connecting two macroscopic
reservoirs of fermions that can be switched from ballistic to diffusive. We
induce a current through the channel and find ohmic conduction, even for a
ballistic channel. An analysis of in-situ density distributions shows that in
the ballistic case the chemical potential drop occurs at the entrance and exit
of the channel, revealing the presence of contact resistance. In contrast, a
diffusive channel with disorder displays a chemical potential drop spread over
the whole channel. Our approach opens the way towards quantum simulation of
mesoscopic devices with quantum gases
Theoretical analysis of quantum dynamics in 1D lattices: Wannier-Stark description
This papers presents a formalism describing the dynamics of a quantum
particle in a one-dimensional tilted time-dependent lattice. The description
uses the Wannier-Stark states, which are localized in each site of the lattice
and provides a simple framework leading to fully-analytical developments.
Particular attention is devoted to the case of a time-dependent potential,
which results in a rich variety of quantum coherent dynamics is found.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Loop structure of the lowest Bloch band for a Bose-Einstein condensate
We investigate analytically and numerically Bloch waves for a Bose--Einstein
condensate in a sinusoidal external potential. At low densities the dependence
of the energy on the quasimomentum is similar to that for a single particle,
but at densities greater than a critical one the lowest band becomes
triple-valued near the boundary of the first Brillouin zone and develops the
structure characteristic of the swallow-tail catastrophe. We comment on the
experimental consequences of this behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
Random Scattering by Atomic Density Fluctuations in Optical Lattices
We investigate hitherto unexplored regimes of probe scattering by atoms
trapped in optical lattices: weak scattering by effectively random atomic
density distributions and multiple scattering by arbitrary atomic
distributions. Both regimes are predicted to exhibit a universal semicircular
scattering lineshape for large density fluctuations, which depend on
temperature and quantum statistics.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Periodically-dressed Bose-Einstein condensates: a superfluid with an anisotropic and variable critical velocity
Two intersecting laser beams can produce a spatially-periodic coupling
between two components of an atomic gas and thereby modify the dispersion
relation of the gas according to a dressed-state formalism. Properties of a
Bose-Einstein condensate of such a gas are strongly affected by this
modification. A Bogoliubov transformation is presented which accounts for
interparticle interactions to obtain the quasiparticle excitation spectrum in
such a condensate. The Landau critical velocity is found to be anisotropic and
can be widely tuned by varying properties of the dressing laser beams.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Probing the energy bands of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice
We simulate three experimental methods which could be realized in the
laboratory to probe the band excitation energies and the momentum distribution
of a Bose-Einstein condensate inside an optical lattice. The values of the
excitation energies obtained in these different methods agree within the
accuracy of the simulation. The meaning of the results in terms of density and
phase deformations is tested by studying the relaxation of a phase-modulated
condensate towards the ground state.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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