Accurate control of a Bose-Einstein condensate by managing the atomic interaction

We exploit the variation of the atomic interaction in order to move ultra-cold atoms across an AC-driven periodic lattice. By breaking relevant symmetries, a gathering of atoms is achieved. Accurate control of the gathered atoms positions can be demonstrated via the control of the atomic localization process. The localization process is analyzed with the help of the nonlinear Floquet states where the Landau-Zener tunneling between states is observed and controlled. Transport effects in the presence of disorder are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 Figures, PACS numbers: 03.75.Lm, 05.60.-k, 63.20.P

Many-Body Coherent Destruction of Tunneling

A new route to coherent destruction of tunneling is established by considering a monochromatic fast modulation of the self-interaction strength of a many-boson system. The modulation can be tuned such that only an arbitrarily, a priori prescribed number of particles are allowed to tunnel. The associated tunneling dynamics is sensitive to the odd or even nature of the number of bosons.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Three-dimensional localized-delocalized Anderson transition in the time domain

Systems which can spontaneously reveal periodic evolution are dubbed time crystals. This is in analogy with space crystals that display periodic behavior in configuration space. While space crystals are modelled with the help of space periodic potentials, crystalline phenomena in time can be modelled by periodically driven systems. Disorder in the periodic driving can lead to Anderson localization in time: the probability for detecting a system at a fixed point of configuration space becomes exponentially localized around a certain moment in time. We here show that a three-dimensional system exposed to a properly disordered pseudo-periodic driving may display a localized-delocalized Anderson transition in the time domain, in strong analogy with the usual three-dimensional Anderson transition in disordered systems. Such a transition could be experimentally observed with ultra-cold atomic gases.Comment: version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett., supplemental material include

Inhomogeneous soliton ratchets under two ac forces

We extend our previous work on soliton ratchet devices [L. Morales-Molina et al., Eur. Phys. J. B 37, 79 (2004)] to consider the joint effect of two ac forces including non-harmonic drivings, as proposed for particle ratchets by Savele'v et al. [Europhys. Lett. 67}, 179 (2004); Phys. Rev. E {\bf 70} 066109 (2004)]. Current reversals due to the interplay between the phases, frequencies and amplitudes of the harmonics are obtained. An analysis of the effect of the damping coefficient on the dynamics is presented. We show that solitons give rise to non-trivial differences in the phenomenology reported for particle systems that arise from their extended character. A comparison with soliton ratchets in homogeneous systems with biharmonic forces is also presented. This ratchet device may be an ideal candidate for Josephson junction ratchets with intrinsic large damping

Ratchet behavior in nonlinear Klein-Gordon systems with point-like inhomogeneities

We investigate the ratchet dynamics of nonlinear Klein-Gordon kinks in a periodic, asymmetric lattice of point-like inhomogeneities. We explain the underlying rectification mechanism within a collective coordinate framework, which shows that such system behaves as a rocking ratchet for point particles. Careful attention is given to the kink width dynamics and its role in the transport. We also analyze the robustness of our kink rocking ratchet in the presence of noise. We show that the noise activates unidirectional motion in a parameter range where such motion is not observed in the noiseless case. This is subsequently corroborated by the collective variable theory. An explanation for this new phenomenom is given

Harnessing synthetic gauge fields for maximally entangled state generation

We study the generation of entanglement between two species of neutral cold atoms living on an optical ring lattice, where each group of particles can be described by a $d$-dimensional Hilbert space (qu$d$it). Synthetic magnetic fields are exploited to create an entangled state between the pair of qu$d$its. Maximally entangled eigenstates are found for well defined values of the Aharonov-Bohm phase, which are zero energy eigenstates of both the kinetic and interacting parts of the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, making them quite exceptional and robust against certain non-perturbative fluctuations of the Hamiltonian. We propose a protocol to reach the maximally entangled state (MES) by starting from an initially prepared ground state. Also, an indirect method to detect the MES by measuring the current of the particles is proposed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Current and entanglement in a Bose-Hubbard lattice

We study the generation of entanglement for interacting cold atoms in an optical lattice. The entanglement is generated by managing the interaction between two distinct atomic species. It is found that the current of one of the species can be used as a good indicator of entanglement generation. The thermalization process between the species is also shown to be closely related to the evolution of the current.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure