Induced interactions in dilute atomic gases and liquid helium mixtures

In dilute mixtures of two atomic gases, interactions between two minority atoms acquire a contribution due to interaction with the majority component. Using thermodynamic arguments, we derive expressions for this induced interaction for both fermions and bosons for arbitrary strength of the interaction between the two components. Implications of the work for the theory of dilute solutions of $^3$He in liquid $^4$He are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, NORDITA-2012-3

Dynamics of the inner crust of neutron stars: hydrodynamics, elasticity and collective modes

We present calculations of the hydrodynamics of the inner crust of neutron stars, where a superfluid neutron liquid coexists with a lattice of neutron-rich nuclei. The long-wavelength collective oscillations are combinations of phonons in the lattice and phonons in the superfluid neutrons. Velocities of collective modes are calculated from information about effective nucleon-nucleon interactions derived from Lattimer and Swesty's microscopic calculations based on a compressible liquid drop picture of the atomic nuclei and the surrounding neutrons.Comment: Preprint NORDITA-2013-1

Center of mass rotation and vortices in an attractive Bose gas

The rotational properties of an attractively interacting Bose gas are studied using analytical and numerical methods. We study perturbatively the ground state phase space for weak interactions, and find that in an anharmonic trap the rotational ground states are vortex or center of mass rotational states; the crossover line separating these two phases is calculated. We further show that the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is a valid description of such a gas in the rotating frame and calculate numerically the phase space structure using this equation. It is found that the transition between vortex and center of mass rotation is gradual; furthermore the perturbative approach is valid only in an exceedingly small portion of phase space. We also present an intuitive picture of the physics involved in terms of correlated successive measurements for the center of mass state.Comment: version2, 17 pages, 5 figures (3 eps and 2 jpg

Instability and control of a periodically-driven Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate held in an optical lattice under the influence of a strong periodic driving potential. Studying the mean-field version of the Bose-Hubbard model reveals that the condensate becomes highly unstable when the effective intersite tunneling becomes negative. We further show how controlling the sign of the tunneling can be used as a powerful tool to manage the dispersion of an atomic wavepacket, and thus to create a pulsed atomic soliton laser.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure

Reversal of the circulation of a vortex by quantum tunneling in trapped Bose systems

We study the quantum dynamics of a model for a vortex in a Bose gas with repulsive interactions in an anisotropic, harmonic trap. By solving the Schr\"odinger equation numerically, we show that the circulation of the vortex can undergo periodic reversals by quantum-mechanical tunneling. With increasing interaction strength or particle number, vortices become increasingly stable, and the period for reversals increases. Tunneling between vortex and antivortex states is shown to be described to a good approximation by a superposition of vortex and antivortex states (a Schr\"odinger cat state), rather than the mean-field state, and we derive an analytical expression for the oscillation period. The problem is shown to be equivalent to that of the two-site Bose Hubbard model with attractive interactions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures; published in Phys. Rev. A, Rapid Communication

Rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensates in an anharmonic confinement

We examine a rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensate in an anharmonic confinement and find that many properties such as the critical rotating frequency and phase diagram are quite different from those in a harmonic trap. We investigate the phase transitions by means of average-vortex-approximation. We find that the vortex lattice consists of a vortex array with a hole in the center of the cloud as the rotating frequency $\Omega$ increases and the vortex becomes invisible when $\Omega$ reaches some value.Comment: Revtex, 5 pages, 2 figure

Ferromagnetic properties of charged vector bosons condensate in the early universe

Bose-Einstein condensation in the early universe is considered. The magnetic properties of a condensate of charged vector bosons are studied, showing that a ferromagnetic state is formed. As a consequence, the primeval plasma may be spontaneously magnetized inside macroscopically large domains and primordial magnetic fields can be generated.Comment: 4 pages IAU Symposium 274, 6-10 September 2010, Giardini Naxos, Italy; Published in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2011, Advances in Plasma Astrophysics, A. Bonanno, E. de Gouveia Dal Pino & A. Kosovichev, eds., Cambridge Univerity Pres

Correlated versus Ferromagnetic State in Repulsively Interacting Two-Component Fermi Gases

Whether a spin-1/2 Fermi gas will become ferromagnetic as the strength of repulsive interaction increases is a long-standing controversial issue. Recently this problem is studied experimentally by Jo et al, Science, 325, 1521 (2009) in which the authors claim a ferromagnetic transition is observed. This work is to point out the results of this experiment can not distinguish whether the system is in a ferromagnetic state or in a non-magnetic but strongly short-range correlated state. A conclusive experimental demonstration of ferromagnetism relies on the observation of ferromagnetic domains.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, published versio

Thermodynamic properties of nuclear "pasta" in neutron star crusts

Equilibrium phase diagrams for neutron star matter at subnuclear densities are obtained at zero temperature. Spherical, rod-like and slab-like nuclei as well as spherical and rod-like nuclear bubbles are taken into account by using a compressible liquid-drop model. This model is designed to incorporate uncertainties in the nuclear surface tension and in the proton chemical potential in a gas of dripped neutrons. The resultant phase diagrams show that for typical values of these quantities, the phases with rod-like nuclei and with slab-like nuclei occur in the form of Coulomb lattice at densities below a point where the system becomes uniform. Thermal fluctuations leading to displacements of such nuclei from their equilibrium positions are considered through explicit evaluations of their elastic constants; these fluctuations can be effective at destroying the layered lattice of slab-like nuclei in the temperature region typical of matter in the neutron star crust.Comment: 37 pages and 10 postscript figures. Nuclear Physics A (accepted