Inter-species Tunneling in One-dimensional Bose Mixtures

We study the ground-state properties and quantum dynamics of few-boson mixtures with strong inter-species repulsion in one-dimensional traps. If one species localizes at the center, e.g., due to a very large mass compared to the other component, it represents an effective barrier for the latter and the system can be mapped onto identical bosons in a double well. For weaker localization, the barrier atoms begin to respond to the light component, leading to an induced attraction between the mobile atoms that may even outweigh their bare intra-species repulsion. To explain the resulting effects, we derive an effective Hubbard model for the lighter species accounting for the backaction of the barrier in correction terms to the lattice parameters. Also the tunneling is drastically affected: Varying the degree of localization of the "barrier" atoms, the dynamics of intrinsically noninteracting bosons can change from Rabi oscillations to effective pair tunneling. For identical fermions (or fermionized bosons) this leads to the tunneling of attractively bound pairs.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures; v2 reflects major revisio

VR/Urban: spread.gun - design process and challenges in developing a shared encounter for media façades

Designing novel interaction concepts for urban environments is not only a technical challenge in terms of scale, safety, portability and deployment, but also a challenge of designing for social configurations and spatial settings. To outline what it takes to create a consistent and interactive experience in urban space, we describe the concept and multidisciplinary design process of VR/Urban's media intervention tool called Spread.gun, which was created for the Media Façade Festival 2008 in Berlin. Main design aims were the anticipation of urban space, situational system configuration and embodied interaction. This case study also reflects on the specific technical, organizational and infrastructural challenges encountered when developing media façade installations

Material-barrier Tunneling in One-dimensional Few-boson Mixtures

We study the quantum dynamics of strongly interacting few-boson mixtures in one-dimensional traps. If one species is strongly localized compared to the other (e.g., much heavier), it can serve as an effective potential barrier for that mobile component. Near the limit of infinite localization, we map this to a system of identical bosons in a double well. For realistic localization, the backaction of the light species on the "barrier" atoms is explained--to lowest order--in terms of an induced attraction between these. Even in equilibrium, this may outweigh the bare intra-species interaction, leading to unexpected correlated states. Remarkably, the backaction drastically affects the inter-species dynamics, such as the tunneling of an attractively bound pair of fermionized atoms.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

VR/Urban: SMSlingshot

In this paper we describe the concept and design objectives of VR/Urban's media intervention tool SMSlingshot, which was presented at the Riga White Night Arts Festival 2009 for the first time

Ground states of dipolar gases in quasi-1D ring traps

We compute the ground state of dipoles in a quasi-one-dimensional ring trap using few-body techniques combined with analytic arguments. The effective interaction between two dipoles depends on their center-of-mass coordinate and can be tuned by varying the angle between dipoles and the plane of the ring. For weak enough interactions, the state resembles a weakly interacting Fermi gas or an (inhomogeneous) Lieb-Liniger gas. A mapping between the Lieb-Liniger and the dipolar-gas parameters in and beyond the Born approximation is established, and we discuss the effect of inhomogeneities based on a local-density approximation. For strongly repulsive interactions, the system exhibits crystal-like localization of the particles. Their inhomogeneous distribution may be understood in terms of a simple few-body model as well as a local-density approximation. In the case of partially attractive interactions, clustered states form for strong enough coupling, and the dependence of the state on particle number and orientation angle of the dipoles is discussed analytically.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

Polarons and Molecules in a Two-Dimensional Fermi Gas

We study an impurity atom in a two-dimensional Fermi gas using variational wave functions for (i) an impurity dressed by particle-hole excitations (polaron) and (ii) a dimer consisting of the impurity and a majority atom. In contrast to three dimensions, where similar calculations predict a sharp transition to a dimer state with increasing interspecies attraction, we show that the polaron ansatz always gives a lower energy. However, the exact solution for a heavy impurity reveals that both a two-body bound state and distortions of the Fermi sea are crucial. This reflects the importance of particle-hole pairs in lower dimensions and makes simple variational calculations unreliable. We show that the energy of an impurity gives important information about its dressing cloud, for which both ans\"atze give inaccurate results.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, minor change

Tunneling dynamics of few bosons in a double well

We study few-boson tunneling in a one-dimensional double well. As we pass from weak interactions to the fermionization limit, the Rabi oscillations first give way to highly delayed pair tunneling (for medium coupling), whereas for very strong correlations multi-band Rabi oscillations emerge. All this is explained on the basis of the exact few-body spectrum and without recourse to the conventional two-mode approximation. Two-body correlations are found essential to the understanding of the different tunnel mechanisms. The investigation is complemented by discussing the effect of skewing the double well, which offers the possibility to access specific tunnel resonancesComment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Correlations in Ultracold Trapped Few-Boson Systems: Transition from Condensation to Fermionization

We study the correlation properties of the ground states of few ultracold bosons, trapped in double wells of varying barrier height in one dimension. Extending previous results on the signature of the transition from a Bose-condensed state via fragmentation to the hard-core limit, we provide a deeper understanding of that transition by relating it to the loss of coherence in the one-body density matrix and to the emerging long-range tail in the momentum spectrum. These are accounted for in detail by discussing the natural orbitals and their occupations. Our discussion is complemented by an analysis of the two-body correlation function.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Excitations of Few-Boson Systems in 1-D Harmonic and Double Wells

We examine the lowest excitations of one-dimensional few-boson systems trapped in double wells of variable barrier height. Based on a numerically exact multi-configurational method, we follow the whole pathway from the non-interacting to the fermionization limit. It is shown how, in a purely harmonic trap, the initially equidistant, degenerate levels are split up due to interactions, but merge again for strong enough coupling. In a double well, the low-lying spectrum is largely rearranged in the course of fermionization, exhibiting level adhesion and (anti-)crossings. The evolution of the underlying states is explained in analogy to the ground-state behavior. Our discussion is complemented by illuminating the crossover from a single to a double well.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Quantum dynamics of two bosons in an anharmonic trap: Collective vs internal excitations

This work deals with the effects of an anharmonic trap on an interacting two-boson system in one dimension. Our primary focus is on the role of the induced coupling between the center of mass and the relative motion as both anharmonicity and the (repulsive) interaction strength are varied. The ground state reveals a strong localization in the relative coordinate, counteracting the tendency to fragment for stronger repulsion. To explore the quantum dynamics, we study the system's response upon (i) exciting the harmonic ground state by continuously switching on an additional anharmonicity, and (ii) displacing the center of mass, this way triggering collective oscillations. The interplay between collective and internal dynamics materializes in the collapse of oscillations, which are explained in terms of few-mode models.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure