Macroscopic Quantum Self-trapping Research Articles

Quantum fluctuations in atomic Josephson junctions: the role of dimensionality

We investigate the role of quantum fluctuations in the dynamics of a bosonic Josephson junction in D spatial dimensions, by using beyond-mean-field Gaussian corrections. We derive some key dynamical properties in a systematic way for D=3,2,1 . In particular, we compute the Josephson frequency in the regime of low population imbalance. We also obtain the critical strength of the macroscopic quantum self-trapping. Our results show that quantum corrections increase the Josephson frequency in spatial dimensions D = 2 and D = 3, but they decrease it in the D = 1 case. The critical strength of macroscopic quantum self-trapping is instead reduced by quantum fluctuations in D = 2 and D = 3 cases, while it is enhanced in the D = 1 configuration. We show that the difference between the cases of D = 2 and D = 3 on one side, and D = 1 on the other, can be related to the qualitatively different dependence of the interaction strength on the scattering length in the different dimensions.

Revealing quantum effects in bosonic Josephson junctions: a multi-configuration atomic coherent state approach

The mean-field approach to two-site Bose–Hubbard systems is well-established and leads to non-linear classical equations of motion for population imbalance and phase difference. It can, for example, be based on the representation of the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation either by a single Glauber state or by a single atomic (SU(2)) coherent state [S. Wimberger et al., Phys. Rev. A 103, 023326 (2021)]. We demonstrate that quantum effects beyond the mean-field approximation are easily uncovered if, instead, a multiconfiguration ansatz with a few time-dependent SU(2) basis functions is used in the variational principle. For the case of plasma oscillations, the use of just two basis states, whose time-dependent parameters are determined variationally, already gives a good qualitative agreement of the phase space dynamics with numerically exact quantum solutions. In order to correctly account for more non-trivial effects, like macroscopic quantum self-trapping, moderately more basis states are needed. For the onset of spontaneous symmetry breaking, however, a multiplicity of 2 gives a significant improvement already. In any case, the number of variational trajectories needed for good agreement with the full quantum results is orders of magnitude smaller than that in the semi-classical case, which is based on multiple mean-field trajectories.

Effects of quantum fluctuations on macroscopic quantum tunneling and self-trapping of a BEC in a double-well trap

In this paper, we study the influence of quantum fluctuations (QFs) on the macroscopic quantum tunneling and self-trapping (ST) of a two-component Bose–Einstein condensate in a double-well trap. QFs are described by the Lee–Huang–Yang (LHY) term in the modified Gross–Pitaevskii (GP) equation. Employing the modified GP equation in a scalar approximation, we derive a dimer model using a two-mode approximation. The frequencies of Josephson oscillations and ST conditions under QFs are found analytically and proven by numerical simulations of the modified GP equation. The tunneling and localization phenomena are also investigated for the case of the LHY fluid loaded in a double-well potential.

Phase diffusion and fluctuations in a dissipative Bose-Josephson junction.

We analyze the phase diffusion, quantum fluctuations and their spectral features of a one-dimensional Bose-Josephson junction (BJJ) nonlinearly coupled to a bosonic heat bath. The phase diffusion is considered by taking into account of random modulations of the BJJ modes causing a phase loss of initial coherence between the ground and excited states, whereby the frequency modulation is incorporated in the system-reservoir Hamiltonian by an interaction term linear in bath operators but nonlinear in system (BJJ) operators. We examine the dependence of the phase diffusion coefficient on the on-site interaction and temperature in the zero- and π-phase modes and demonstrate its phase transition-like behavior between the Josephson oscillation and the macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) regimes in the π-phase mode. Based on the thermal canonical Wigner distribution, which is the equilibrium solution of the associated quantum Langevin equationfor phase, coherence factor is calculated to study phase diffusion for the zero- and π-phase modes. We investigate the quantum fluctuations of the relative phase and population imbalance in terms of fluctuation spectra which capture an interesting shift in Josephson frequency induced by frequency fluctuation due to nonlinear system-reservoir coupling, as well as the on-site interaction-induced splitting in the weak dissipative regime.

Synthetic gauge field in two interacting ultracold atomic gases without an optical lattice

A 2D Fock-state lattice (FSL is constructed from the many-body states of two interacting two-mode quantum gases. By periodically driving the interspecies interactions and pulsing the tunneling between the two modes of each gas, a synthetic gauge field is generated. We derive an effective Hamiltonian in the short pulse limit which resembles the Harper-Hofstadter Hamiltonian where the magnetic flux per plaquette is controlled by the ratio of the interaction energy and the driving frequency. The quasispectrum of the Floquet operator of the driving sequence shows the celebrated Hofstadter's butterfly pattern as well as the existence of edge states. From the calculation of the local Chern marker, we establish that the FSL has non-trivial topology and by simulating the dynamics of the edge states, show that they exhibit chirality. Finally, the inclusion of the intraspecies interactions creates an overall harmonic trap in the lattice and introduces the nonlinear effect of macroscopic quantum self-trapping which is shown to hinder the movement along the edge of the lattice. This work introduces a new avenue to explore synthetic gauge fields and provides a link between non-trivial condensed matter systems and quantum gases.

Two-site anyonic Josephson junction

Anyons are particles with intermediate quantum statistics whose wavefunction acquires a phase $e^{i\theta}$ by particle exchange. Inspired by proposals of simulating anyons using ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices, we study a two-site anyonic Josephson junction, i.e. anyons confined in a one-dimensional double-well potential. We show, analytically and numerically, that many properties of anyonic Josephson junctions, such as Josephson frequency, imbalanced solutions, macroscopic quantum self-trapping, coherence visibility, and condensate fraction, crucially depend on the anyonic angle $\theta$. Our theoretical predictions are a solid benchmark for near future experimental quantum simulations of anyonic matter in double-well potentials.

Interaction-modulated tunneling dynamics of a mixture of Bose-Fermi superfluid

In this paper, we study the interaction-modulated tunneling dynamics of a Bose-Fermi superfluid mixture, where a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with weak repulsive interaction is confined in a symmetric deep double-well potential and an equally populated two-component Fermi gas in a harmonic potential symmetrically is positioned in the center of the double-well potential. The tunneling between the two wells is modulated by fermions trapped in a harmonic potential. When the temperature is adequately low and the bosonic particle number is adequately large, we can employ the mean-field theory to describe the evolution of the BEC in the double-well potential through the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. For the Fermi gas in the harmonic potential trap, we consider the case where the inter-fermion interaction is tuned on the deep Bose-Einstein condensate of the inter-fermion Feshbach resonance, where two fermions of spin-up and spin-down form a two-body bound state. Within the regime, the Fermi gas is well described by a condensate of these fermionic dimers, and hence can be simulated as well by a Gross-Pitaevskii equation of dimers. The inter-species interactions couple the dynamics of the two species, which results in interesting features in the tunneling oscillations. The dynamic equations of the BEC in the double-well potential is described by a two-mode approximation. Coupling it with time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation of the harmonically potential trapped molecular BEC, we numerically investigate the dynamical evolution of the Boson-Fermi hybrid system under different initial conditions. It is found that the interaction among fermions in a harmonic potential leads to strong non-linearity in the oscillations of the bosons in the double-well potential and enriches the tunneling dynamics of the bosons. Especially, it strengthens macroscopic quantum self-trapping. And the macroscopic quantum self-trapping can be expressed in three forms: the phase tends to be negative and monotonically decreases with time, the phase evolves with time, and the phase tends to be positive and increases monotonically with time. This means that it is possible the tunneling dynamics of the BEC in double-well potential is adjustable. Our results can be verified experimentally in a Bose-Fermi superfluid mixture by varying different interaction parameters via Feshbach resonance and confinement-induced resonance.

Finite-size effects in a bosonic Josephson junction

We investigate finite-size quantum effects in the dynamics of $N$ bosonic particles which are tunneling between two sites adopting the two-site Bose-Hubbard model. By using time-dependent atomic coherent states (ACS) we extend the standard mean-field equations of this bosonic Josephson junction, which are based on time-dependent Glauber coherent states. In this way we find $1/N$ corrections to familiar mean-field (MF) results: the frequency of macroscopic oscillation between the two sites, the critical parameter for the dynamical macroscopic quantum self trapping (MQST), and the attractive critical interaction strength for the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) of the ground state. To validate our analytical results we perform numerical simulations of the quantum dynamics. In the case of Josephson oscillations around a balanced configuration we find that also for a few atoms the numerical results are in good agreement with the predictions of time-dependent ACS variational approach, provided that the time evolution is not too long. Also the numerical results of SSB are better reproduced by the ACS approach with respect to the MF one. Instead the onset of MQST is correctly reproduced by ACS theory only in the large $N$ regime and, for this phenomenon, the $1/N$ correction to the MF formula is not reliable.

Population dynamics of ultra-cold atoms interacting with radiation fields in the presence of inter-atomic collisions

We investigate the dynamics of a system that consists of ultra-cold three-level atoms interacting with radiation fields. We derive the analytical expressions for the population dynamics of the system, particularly, in the presence and absence of nonlinear collisions by considering the rotating wave approximation (RWA). We also reanalyze the dynamics of the system beyond RWA and obtain the state vector of the system to study and compare the time behavior of population inversion. Our results show that the system undergoes two pure quantum phenomena, i.e., the collapse–revival and macroscopic quantum self-trapping due to nonlinear collisional interactions. The occurrence of such phenomena strongly depends on the number of atoms in the system and also the ratio of interaction strengths in the considered system. Finally, we show that the result of the perturbed time evolution operator up to the second-order is in agreement with the numerical solution of the Schrodinger equation. The results presented in the paper may be useful for the design of devices that produce a coherent beam of bosonic atoms known as an atom laser.

Nonlinear Rosen-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry of a Bose-Einstein condensate

We adopt a nonlinear two-mode model to investigate the Rosen-Zener-St\uckelberg (RZS) interferometry of an interacting Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in double-well potential with a periodically modulating barrier. For symmetric potential, we analyze the properties of interference patterns and derive the interference conditions. For asymmetric potential, we explore the resonance structures caused by destructive interference at the weakly coupling limit and obtain the resonance conditions. In particular, we find that the chaotic motions in the asymmetric case with low-frequency modulation, can destroy the formation of interference fringes. In the symmetric case with high-frequency modulation, we see Fano-line-like resonance structures and find that the reso- nance positions exactly correspond to the boundary of macroscopic quantum self-trapping. We show that the nonlinearity can significantly alter both the shape and position of interference fringes and resonance structures. We discuss the experimental feasibility by comparing the solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with both the solution of the two-mode model and the truncated Wigner simulation as well. The results suggest important applications of nonlinear RZS interferometry both in precisely controlling the dynamics and in accurately measuring the parameters of interacting many-body systems.

Orbital angular momentum dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in two stacked rings

We investigate the stability and dynamics of the orbital angular momentum modes of a repulsive Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in two tunnel-coupled rings in a stack configuration. Within mean-field theory, we derive a two-state model for the system in the case in which we populate equally both rings with a single orbital angular momentum mode and include small perturbations in other modes. Analyzing the fixed point solutions of the model and the associated classical Hamiltonian, we characterize the destabilization of the stationary states and the subsequent dynamics. By populating a single orbital angular momentum mode with an arbitrary population imbalance between the rings, we derive analytically the boundary between the regimes of Josephson oscillations and macroscopic quantum self-trapping and study numerically the stability of these solutions.

The effects of trap-confinement and interatomic interactions on Josephson effects and macroscopic quantum self-trapping for a Bose–Einstein condensate

We theoretically study the effects of trap-confinement and interatomic interactions on Josephson oscillations (JO) and macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) for a Bose–Einstein condensate confined in a trap which has a symmetric double-well potential along z-axis and 2D harmonic potentials along x- and y-axis. We consider three types of model interaction potentials: contact, long-range dipolar and finite-range potentials. Our results show that by changing the aspect ratio between the axial and radial trap sizes, one can induce a transition from JO to MQST for contact interactions with a small scattering length. For long-range dipolar interatomic interactions, we analyze transition from Rabi to Josephson regime and Josephson to MQST regime by changing the aspect ratio of the trap for a particular dipolar orientation. For a finite-range interaction, we study the effects of relatively large scattering length and effective range on JO and MQST. We show that JO and MQST are possible even if scattering length is relatively large, particularly near a narrow Feshbach resonance due to the finite-range effects.

Analytical pendulum model for a bosonic Josephson junction

We present an analytical description of the tunneling dynamics between two coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in the Josephson regime. The model relies on the classical analogy with a rigid pendulum and focuses on two dynamical modes of this system: Josephson oscillations and Macroscopic Quantum Self-Trapping. The analogy is extended to include an energy difference between the two superfluids caused by an asymmetry in the trapping potential. The model is compatible with the mean-field predictions of the two-mode Bose-Hubbard model. It gives new insights on the mean-field model by involving experimentally measurable parameters with reduced correlations. For agreement with recent experimental observations, we establish heuristic formulas including a dissipation. We conclude with a convincing application of the model to several sets of experimental results.

Dissipative evolution of two-mode Bose–Einstein condensate in the presence of nonlinear interactions: Heisenberg operator approach

In this paper we study the qualitative dynamical evolution of atomic population imbalance and tunneling current between two Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) interacting with each other in the presence of the intra- and inter-species collisions while the Rabi coupling between them is switched on, too. In particular, we consider the influence of dissipation process in our model to get more realized physical results. In this regard, to solve the Hamiltonian of the system, the Heisenberg operator method is used, by which the analytical solutions of the related differential equations are obtained. The population imbalance between the two BECs and the respected atomic tunneling current are then explicitly deduced for two initial state, i.e., number and coherent states in different conditions. The analytical as well as numerical results confirm the dependence of the mentioned quantities on the chosen initial state and the total number of atoms in the system which is in consistence with experimental observations. As is observed, a new kind of macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) effect is also occurred in the population imbalance at certain conditions. Two distinct types of collapse-revival phenomena, depending on the relative strength of tunneling and collisional interactions, can be seen in the behavior of atomic population imbalance and tunneling current. Interestingly, collapse-revival phenomenon is disappeared in the intermediate regime and a new oscillatory step-like pattern is observed in the dynamics of the system.

Dressed state dynamics of two-component Bose-Einstein Condensates in state-dependent potentials

Dressed potentials realized by coupling state-dependent bare potentials with external fields have important applications in trapping and manipulating atoms. Here, we study the dynamics of dressed states for coupled two-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in state-dependent potentials. Through both analytical and numerical methods, we find that the dressed state dynamics sensitively depend on both the inter-component coupling strength and the initial state. If the inter-component coupling is strong enough and the initial wave packet is located at the potential minimum, the dressed states can be decoupled and the Josephson oscillations and macroscopic quantum self-trapping appear. However, if the initial wave packet is located far away from the potential minimum, the wave packet will acquire a large kinetic energy and Landau-Zener transitiozs between the dressed states occur at the avoided-crossing point. Further, we give the validity ranges and conditions for the formation of adiabatic potentials, where the influences of Landau-Zener transitions can be ignored. Our results give an insight on how the inter-component coupling affects the dressed state dynamics and how to realize adiabatic potentials with BECs in state-dependent potentials.

Macroscopic quantum self-trapping of a spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate in a double-well potential

We investigate the macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) phenomenon of a spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in a double-well potential, emphasizing the critical behavior at the transition to MQST. We show that as the nonlinear parameter characterizing the atomic interaction increases, the spin–orbit-coupled BEC appears as MQST, manifesting an asymmetric distribution of the atom in two wells. Then, the effect of the initial condition on the critical behavior at the transition to MQST is given. Analytic expressions for the dependence of the transition parameters on the system parameters and the initial condition are derived, which are in agreement with our numerical simulations.

Josephson and persistent spin currents in Bose-Einstein condensates of magnons

Using the Aharonov-Casher (A-C) phase, we present a microscopic theory of the Josephson and persistent spin currents in quasi-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of magnons in ferromagnetic insulators. Starting from a microscopic spin model that we map onto a Gross-Pitaevskii Hamiltonian, we derive a two-state model for the Josephson junction between the weakly coupled magnon-BECs. We then show how to obtain the alternating-current (ac) Josephson effect with magnons as well as macroscopic quantum self-trapping in a magnon-BEC. We next propose how to control the direct-current (dc) Josephson effect electrically using the A-C phase, which is the geometric phase acquired by magnons moving in an electric field. Finally, we introduce a magnon-BEC ring and show that persistent magnon-BEC currents flow due to the A-C phase. Focusing on the feature that the persistent magnon-BEC current is a steady flow of magnetic dipoles that produces an electric field, we propose a method to directly measure it experimentally.

Effective Josephson dynamics in resonantly driven Bose–Einstein condensates

We show that the orbital Josephson effect appears in a wide range of driven atomic Bose–Einstein condensed systems, including quantum ratchets, double wells and box potentials. We use three separate numerical methods: the Gross–Pitaevskii equation, exact diagonalization of the few-mode problem and the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree for bosons algorithm. We establish the limits of mean-field and few-mode descriptions, demonstrating that the few-mode approximation represents the full many-body dynamics to high accuracy in the weak driving limit. Among other quantum measures, we compute the instantaneous particle current and the occupation of natural orbitals. We explore four separate dynamical regimes, the Rabi limit, chaos, the critical point and self-trapping; a favorable comparison is found even in the regimes of dynamical instabilities or macroscopic quantum self-trapping. Finally, we present an extension of the (t,t′)-formalism to general time-periodic equations of motion, which permits a systematic description of the long-time dynamics of resonantly driven many-body systems, including those relevant to the orbital Josephson effect.

Self-trapping dynamics in a two-dimensional optical lattice

We describe theoretical models for the recent experimental observation of macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) in the transverse dynamics of an ultracold bosonic gas in a two-dimensional lattice. The pure mean-field model based on the solution of coupled nonlinear equations fails to reproduce the experimental observations. It greatly overestimates the initial expansion rates at short times and predicts a slower expansion rate of the cloud at longer times. It also predicts the formation of a hole surrounded by a steep square fortlike barrier which was not observed in the experiment. An improved theoretical description based on a simplified truncated Wigner approximation (TWA), which adds phase and number fluctuations in the initial conditions, pushes the theoretical results closer to the experimental observations but fails to quantitatively reproduce them. An explanation of the delayed expansion as a consequence of a type of self-trapping mechanism, where quantum correlations suppress tunneling even when there are no density gradients, is discussed and supported by numerical time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (t-DMRG) calculations performed in a simplified two coupled tubes setup.

Stress-modulated exciton polariton Josephson effect in a semiconductor microcavity

We demonstrate that the exciton polariton Josephson effect can be effectively modulated by a uniaxial stress in a semiconductor microcavity. By increasing the stress, we can show there are two critical transition stresses, which correspond to the 0-π and dc-ac transition, respectively. We find that the ac Josephson frequency increases with the stress and the macroscopic quantum self-trapping can appear by regulating the stress. We also find that the Shapiro steps emerge under appropriate conditions, but some steps are suppressed. In contrast to a conventional superconducting tunnel junction, it is exposed that all the rich phenomena come from the competition between the interaction of exciton polaritons and the energy difference induced by the stress. It is feasible that these results can be experimentally verified.