Intra-species Repulsion Research Articles

Segregation and domain formation in non-local multi-species aggregation equations

A system of aggregation equations describing nonlocal interaction of two species is studied. When interspecies repulsive forces dominate intra-species repulsion, phase segregation may occur. This leads to the formation of distinct phase domains, separated by moving interfaces.The one dimensional interface problem is formulated variationally, and conditions for existence and nonexistence are established. The singular limit of large and short-ranged repulsion in two dimensions is then considered, leading to a two-phase free boundary problem describing the evolution of phase interfaces. Long term dynamics are investigated computationally, demonstrating coarsening phenomenon quantitatively different from classical models of phase separation. Finally, the interplay between long-range interspecies attraction and interfacial energy is illustrated, leading to pattern formation.

Fermionization of a few-body Bose system immersed into a Bose-Einstein condensate

We study the recently introduced self-pinning transition [Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 053401 (2022)] in a quasi-one-dimensional two-component quantum gas in the case where the component immersed into the Bose-Einstein condensate has a finite intraspecies interaction strength. As a result of the matter-wave backaction, the fermionization in the limit of infinite intraspecies repulsion occurs via a first-order phase transition to the self-pinned state, which is in contrast to the asymptotic behavior in static trapping potentials. The system also exhibits an additional superfluid state for the immersed component if the interspecies interaction is able to overcome the intraspecies repulsion. We approximate the superfluid state in an analytical model and derive an expression for the phase transition line that coincides with well-known phase separation criteria in binary Bose systems. The full phase diagram of the system is mapped out numerically for the case of two and three atoms in the immersed component.

Quantum droplets in one-dimensional Bose mixtures: A quantum Monte Carlo study

We use exact Quantum Monte Carlo techniques to study the properties of quantum droplets in two-component bosonic mixtures with contact interactions in one spatial dimension. We systematically study the surface tension, the density profile and the breathing mode as a function of the number of particles in the droplet and of the ratio of coupling strengths between intra-species repulsion and inter-species attraction. We find that deviations from the predictions of the generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation are small in most cases of interest.

Effective expression of the Lee-Huang-Yang energy functional for heteronuclear mixtures

We consider a homogeneous heteronuclear Bose mixture with contact interactions at the mean-field collapse, i.e. with interspecies attraction equal to the mean geometrical intraspecies repulsion. We show that the Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) energy functional is accurately approximated by an expression that has the same functional form as in the homonuclear case. The approximated energy functional is characterized by two exponents, which can be treated as fitting parameters. We demonstrate that the values of these parameters which preserve the invariance under permutation of the two atomic species are exactly those of the homonuclear case. Deviations from the exact expression of LHY energy functional are discussed quantitatively and a specific application is described.

Self-trapped quantum balls in binary Bose–Einstein condensates

We study the formation of a stable self-trapped spherical quantum ball in a binary Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) with two-body inter-species attraction and intra-species repulsion employing the beyond-mean-field Lee–Huang–Yang and the three-body interactions. We find that either of these interactions or a combination of them can stabilize the binary BEC quantum ball with very similar stationary results, and for a complete description of the problem both the terms should be considered. These interactions lead to higher-order nonlinearities, e.g. quartic and quintic, respectively, in a nonlinear dynamical equation compared to the cubic nonlinearity of the two-body contact interaction in the mean-field Gross–Pitaevskii equation. The higher-order nonlinearity makes the energy infinitely large at the center of the binary ball and thus avoids its collapse. In addition to the formation of stationary binary balls, we also study a collision between two such balls. At large velocities, the collision is found to be elastic, which turns out to be inelastic as the velocity is lowered. We consider the numerical solution of a beyond-mean-field model for the binary ball as well as a single-mode variational approximation to it in this study.

Phase-separated vortex-lattice in a rotating binary Bose–Einstein condensate

We study circularly-symmetric phase separation of vortex lattices in a rapidly rotating harmonically-trapped quasi-two-dimensional binary Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) by introducing a weak quartic trap in one of the components. The increase of the rotational frequency in such a system is also found to generate a phase separation of the vortex lattices of an overlapping non-rotating BEC. The phase-separated vortex lattices have different structures for a binary BEC with inter-species repulsion and inter-species attraction. In the former case of a fully repulsive binary BEC, the phase separation of the vortex-lattices is accompanied by a complete phase separation of component densities. In the latter case of inter-species attraction, there is a partial phase separation of component densities, although there could be a complete phase separation of the generated vortex lattices in the two components. In the case of inter-species attraction, we need to have different intra-species repulsion in the two components for an efficient phase separation. We compare and contrast our results with the phase separation obtained in a harmonically-trapped binary BEC without any quartic trap.

Role of Surface Hydroxyl Species in Copper-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Ketones

A comprehensive, coverage-dependent mean-field microkinetic model is developed for the hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds on Cu(111). In the model, hydrogenation by surface hydrogen, surface hydroxyl species, and adsorbed water molecules is considered, including a reaction pathway via keto–enol tautomerization. The model parameters were calculated by VdW-DF2 density functional theory and account for inter- and intraspecies repulsion. Accounting for these coverage effects changes the surface from being completely covered with 25% oxygen atoms and 75% hydroxyl groups to a surface with 65% free sites. Including coverage effects also surprisingly increases the calculated turnover frequency from 6 × 10–5 to 2 × 10–3 s–1. In the dominant reaction path, the carbonyl group is hydrogenated to an alkoxy intermediate by surface hydrogen, followed by a proton transfer from either a surface hydroxyl species or an adsorbed water molecule to form the alcohol product. The addition of small amounts of water suffices to o...

Two-dimensional symbiotic solitons and vortices in binary condensates with attractive cross-species interaction

We consider a two-dimensional (2D) two-component spinor system with cubic attraction between the components and intra-species self-repulsion, which may be realized in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates, as well as in a quasi-equilibrium condensate of microcavity polaritons. Including a 2D spatially periodic potential, which is necessary for the stabilization of the system against the critical collapse, we use detailed numerical calculations and an analytical variational approximation (VA) to predict the existence and stability of several types of 2D symbiotic solitons in the spinor system. Stability ranges are found for symmetric and asymmetric symbiotic fundamental solitons and vortices, including hidden-vorticity (HV) modes, with opposite vorticities in the two components. The VA produces exceptionally accurate predictions for the fundamental solitons and vortices. The fundamental solitons, both symmetric and asymmetric ones, are completely stable, in either case when they exist as gap solitons or regular ones. The symmetric and asymmetric vortices are stable if the inter-component attraction is stronger than the intra-species repulsion, while the HV modes have their stability region in the opposite case.

Demixing effects in mixtures of two bosonic species

Motivated by recent experiments on two-component systems, we investigate the ground-state phase diagram of a mixture of two bosonic species by means of path-integral quantum Monte Carlo by the two-worm algorithm. The mixture is trapped in a square lattice at half-filling conditions. Various quantum phases are stabilized depending on the interplay between intra- and inter-species interactions. We show that the phase diagram features a demixed superfluid phase and demixed Mott-Insulator phase when the inter-species interaction becomes greater than the intra-species repulsion, and a double-superfluid phase or a supercounterflow otherwise. We also show that demixing, characterized by spatial separation of the two species, can be detected experimentally through the effects of anisotropy revealed by time-of-flight images.

Comment on “Phase separation in a two-species Bose mixture”

In an article in 2007, Mishra et al. [Phys. Rev. A 76, 013604 (2007)] investigated the two-component Bose-Hubbard model using the numerical density-matrix renormalization-group procedure. In the regime of interspecies repulsion ${U}^{ab}$ larger than the intraspecies repulsion $U$, they found a transition from a uniform miscible phase to phase separation occurring at a finite value of $U$, e.g., at around $U=1.3$ for $\ensuremath{\Delta}={U}^{ab}/U=1.05$ and ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{a}={\ensuremath{\rho}}_{b}=1/2$. In this Comment, we show that this result is not correct, and in fact, the two-component Bose-Hubbard model is unstable to phase separation for any ${U}^{ab}>U>0$.

Quantum and thermal transitions out of the pair-supersolid phase of two-species bosons on a square lattice

We investigate two-species bosons in a two-dimensional square lattice by quantum Monte Carlo method. We show that the inter-species attraction and nearest-neighbor intra-species repulsion results in the pair-supersolid phase, where a diagonal solid order coexists with an off-diagonal pair-superfluid order. The quantum and thermal transitions out of the pair-supersolid phase are characterized. It is found that there is a direct first order transition from the pair-supersolid phase to the double-superfluid phase without an intermediate region. Furthermore, the melting of the pair-supersolid occurs in two steps. Upon heating, first the pair-superfluid is destroyed via a KT transition then the solid order melts via an Ising transition

Interaction-driven quantum phase transitions in fractional topological insulators

We study two species of (or spin-1/2) fermions with short-range intra-species repulsion in the presence of opposite (effective) magnetic field, each at Landau level filling factor 1/3. In the absence of inter-species interaction, the ground state is simply two copies of the 1/3 Laughlin state, with opposite chirality, representing the fractional topological insulator (FTI) phase. We show this phase is stable against moderate inter-species interactions. However strong enough inter-species repulsion leads to phase separation, while strong enough inter-species attraction drives the system into a superfluid phase. We obtain the phase diagram through exact diagonalization calculations. The FTI-superfluid phase transition is shown to be in the (2+1)D XY universality class, using an appropriate Chern-Simons-Ginsburg-Landau effective field theory.

Few-boson tunneling dynamics of strongly correlated binary mixtures in a double well

We explore the tunneling dynamics of strongly correlated bosonic mixtures in a one-dimensional double well. The roles of the inter- and intraspecies interactions and their interplay are investigated using the numerically exact multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method. The dynamics is studied for three initial configurations: complete and partial population imbalance and a species-separated state. Increasing the interspecies interaction leads to a strong increase of the tunneling time period analogous to the quantum self-trapping for condensates. The intraspecies repulsion can suppress or enhance the tunneling period depending on the strength of the interspecies correlations as well as the initial configuration. Completely correlated tunneling between the two species and within the same species as well as mechanisms of species separation and counterflow are revealed. These effects are explained by studying the few-body energy spectra as well as the properties of the contributing stationary states.

Localization of a Bose-Fermi mixture in a bichromatic optical lattice

We study the localization of a cigar-shaped super-fluid Bose-Fermi mixture in a quasi-periodic bichromatic optical lattice (OL) for inter-species attraction and intra-species repulsion. The mixture is described by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the bosons, coupled to a hydrodynamic mean-field equation for fermions at unitarity. We confirm the existence of the symbiotic localized states in the Bose-Fermi mixture and Anderson localization of the Bose component in the interacting Bose-Fermi mixture on a bichromatic OL. The phase diagram in boson and fermion numbers showing the regions of the symbiotic and Anderson localization of the Bose component is presented. Finally, the stability of symbiotic and Anderson localized states is established under small perturbations.

Interspecies tunneling in one-dimensional Bose mixtures

We study the ground-state properties and quantum dynamics of few-boson mixtures with strong interspecies 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 intraspecies repulsion. To explain the resulting effects, we derive an effective Hubbard model for the lighter species accounting for the back action of the barrier in correction terms to the lattice parameters. Also the tunneling is drastically affected: by 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.

Composite fermionization of one-dimensional Bose-Bose mixtures

We study the ground states of one-dimensional Bose-Bose mixtures under harmonic confinement. As we vary the interspecies coupling strength up to the limit of infinite repulsion, we observe a generalized, composite-fermionization crossover. The initially coexisting phases demix as a whole for weak intraspecies interactions, whereas the atoms localize individually for strong intraspecies repulsion. By symmetry, the two components end up with strongly overlapping profiles, albeit sensitive to symmetry-breaking perturbations. Different pathways emerge if the two components have different atom numbers, different intraspecies interactions, or different masses and/or trap frequencies.

Competition between attractive and repulsive interactions in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in an optical lattice

We consider effects of interspecies attraction on two-component gap solitons (GSs) in the binary BEC with intraspecies repulsion, trapped in the one-dimensional optical lattice (OL). Systematic simulations of the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations corroborate an assumption that, because the effective mass of GSs is negative, the interspecies attraction may split the two-component soliton. Two critical values, ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{2}$, of the OL strength $(\ensuremath{\kappa})$ are identified. Two-species GSs with fully overlapping wave functions are stable in strong lattices $(\ensuremath{\kappa}>{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{1})$. In an intermediate region, ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{1}>\ensuremath{\kappa}>{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{2}$, the soliton splits into a double-humped state with separated components. Finally, in weak lattices $(\ensuremath{\kappa}<{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{2})$, the splitting generates a pair of freely moving single-species GSs. We present and explain the dependence of ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{2}$ on the number of atoms (total norm), and on the relative strength of the competing interspecies attraction and intraspecies repulsion. The splitting of asymmetric solitons, with unequal norms of the two species, is briefly considered too. It is found and explained that the splitting threshold grows with the increase of the asymmetry.

Density-Matrix Renormalization Group studies of mixture of two different ultracold bosonic atoms

We investigate the ground state phase diagram for a two species Bose mixture in a one dimensional optical lattice using the finite size density matrix renormalization group (FSDMRG) method. We present our result for different combinations of inter and intra-species repulsion strengths with a commensurate filling factor. We obtain a superfluid (SF) to Mott insulator (MI) transition when the inter species interaction term is less than the intra-species interaction term. However, when the former is slightly greater than the latter we find that the two different species reside in spatially separate regions.

Two-component gap solitons in two- and one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates

We introduce two- and one-dimensional (1D) models of a binary BEC (Bose-Einstein condensate) in a periodic potential, with repulsive interactions. We chiefly consider the most fundamental case of the interspecies repulsion with zero intraspecies interactions. The same system may also model a mixture of two mutually repulsive fermionic species. Existence and stability regions for gap solitons (GSs) supported by the interplay of the interspecies repulsion and periodic potential are identified. Two-component GSs are constructed by means of the variational approximation (VA) and in a numerical form. The VA provides an accurate description for the GS which is a compound state of two tightly bound components, each essentially trapped in one cell of the periodic potential. GSs of this type dominate in the case of intragap solitons, with both components belonging to the first finite bandgap of the linear spectrum (only this type of solitons is possible in a weak lattice). Intergap solitons, with one component residing in the second bandgap, and intragap solitons which have both components in the second gap, are possible in a deeper periodic potential, with the strength essentially exceeding the recoil energy of the atoms. Intergap solitons are, typically, bound states of one tightly and one loosely bound component. In this case, results are obtained in a numerical form. The number of atoms in experimentally relevant situations is estimated to be $\ensuremath{\sim}5000$ in the 2D intragap soliton, and $\ensuremath{\sim}25\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}000$ in its intergap counterpart; in 1D solitons, it may be up to ${10}^{5}$. For 2D solitons, the stability is identified in direct simulations, while in the 1D case it is done via eigenfrequencies of small perturbations, and then verified by simulations. In the latter case, if the intragap soliton in the first bandgap is weakly unstable, it evolves into a stable breather, while unstable solitons of other types (in particular, intergap solitons) get completely destroyed. The intragap 2D solitons in the first bandgap are less robust, and in some cases they are completely destroyed by the instability. Addition of intraspecies repulsion to the repulsion between the components leads to further stabilization of the GSs.