Spinor Condensates Research Articles

Antiferromagnetic spinor condensates are quantum rotors

We establish a theoretical correspondence between spin-one antiferromagnetic spinor condensates in an external magnetic field and quantum rotor models in an external potential. We show that the rotor model provides a conceptually clear picture of the possible phases and dynamical regimes of the antiferromagnetic condensate. We also show that this mapping simplifies calculations of the condensate's spectrum and wavefunctions. We use the rotor mapping to describe the different dynamical regimes recently observed in $^{23}$Na condensates. We also suggest a way to experimentally observe quantum mechanical effects (collapse and revival) in spinor condensates.

Spontaneous Breaking of Spatial and Spin Symmetry in Spinor Condensates

Parametric amplification of quantum fluctuations constitutes a fundamental mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking. In our experiments, a spinor condensate acts as a parametric amplifier of spin modes, resulting in a twofold spontaneous breaking of spatial and spin symmetry in the amplified clouds. Our experiments permit a precise analysis of the amplification in specific spatial Bessel-like modes, allowing for the detailed understanding of the double symmetry breaking. On resonances that create vortex-antivortex superpositions, we show that the cylindrical spatial symmetry is spontaneously broken, but phase squeezing prevents spin-symmetry breaking. If, however, nondegenerate spin modes contribute to the amplification, quantum interferences lead to spin-dependent density profiles and hence spontaneously formed patterns in the longitudinal magnetization.

Atomic-number fluctuations in a mixture of condensates

We study particle number fluctuations in the quantum ground states of a mixture of two spin-1 atomic condensates when the interspecies spin-exchange coupling interaction $c_{12}\beta$ is adjusted. The two spin-1 condensates forming the mixture are respectively ferromagnetic and polar in the absence of an external magnetic (B-) field. We categorize all possible ground states using the angular momentum algebra and compute their characteristic atom number fluctuations, focusing especially on the the AA phase (when $ c_{12}\beta >0$), where the ground state becomes fragmented and atomic number fluctuations exhibit drastically different features from a single stand alone spin-1 polar condensate. Our results are further supported by numerical simulations of the full quantum many-body system.

Rotonlike Instability and Pattern Formation in Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensates

We show that metastable phases of an antiferromagnetic spin-1 condensate in a simple model with pure contact interactions can exhibit a rotonlike minimum in the excitation spectrum. The introduction of a magnetic field gives rise to the instability of roton modes, which can lead to spontaneous emergence of regular periodic, polygonal, polyhedral, or crystalline patterns, as shown in numerical simulations within the truncated Wigner approximation. An explanation of the occurrence of rotonlike instability is given based on the energy and spin conservation laws.

Spin dynamics and domain formation of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical cavity

We consider a ferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) dispersively coupled to a unidirectional ring cavity. We show that the ability of the cavity to modify, in a highly nonlinear fashion, matter-wave phase shifts adds an additional dimension to the study of spinor condensates. In addition to demonstrating strong matter-wave bistability as in our earlier publication [L. Zhou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 160403 (2009)], we show that the interplay between atomic and cavity fields can greatly enrich both the physics of critical slowing down in spin-mixing dynamics and the physics of spin-domain formation in spinor condensates.

Low-energy dynamics of spinor condensates

We present a derivation of the low energy Lagrangian governing the dynamics of the spin degrees of freedom in a spinor Bose condensate, for any phase in which the average magnetization vanishes. This includes all phases found within mean-field treatments except for the ferromagnet, for which the low energy dynamics has been discussed previously. The Lagrangian takes the form of a sigma model for the rotation matrix describing the local orientation of the spin state of the gas.

Parametric Amplification of Vacuum Fluctuations in a Spinor Condensate

Parametric amplification of vacuum fluctuations is crucial in modern quantum optics, enabling the creation of squeezing and entanglement. We demonstrate the parametric amplification of vacuum fluctuations for matter waves using a spinor F=2 87Rb condensate. Interatomic interactions lead to correlated pair creation in the mF=±1 states from an initial mF=0 condensate, which acts as a vacuum for mF≠0. Although this pair creation from a pure mF=0 condensate is ideally triggered by vacuum fluctuations, unavoidable spurious initial mF=±1 atoms induce a classical seed which may become the dominant triggering mechanism. We show that pair creation is insensitive to a classical seed for sufficiently large magnetic fields, demonstrating the dominant role of vacuum fluctuations. The presented system thus provides a direct path towards the generation of nonclassical states of matter.

Josephson tunneling of binary mixtures of spinor BECs

We study the dynamics of Josephson oscillations in a mixture of two Zeeman states of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate in a double well potential. Two interesting mixture genuine effects are identified. First, we find that in the strongly polarized case, the less populated component exhibits a complex dynamics with an anti-Josephson behavior, i.e., oscillates in phase with the more populated one. Secondly, in the balanced population case, the Josephson oscillations behave as if the interatomic interactions have been partially cancelled. This effect could be used as a new procedure to measure the distinct scattering lengths entering in the description of a spinor condensate. Our numerical results are physically interpreted in terms of an analytical description of the binary mixture using a two-mode model.

Spinor condensate ofRb87as a dipolar gas

We consider a spinor condensate of $^{87}$Rb atoms in F=1 hyperfine state confined in an optical dipole trap. Putting initially all atoms in $m_F=0$ component we find that the system evolves towards a state of thermal equilibrium with kinetic energy equally distributed among all magnetic components. We show that this process is dominated by the dipolar interaction of magnetic spins rather than spin mixing contact potential. Our results show that because of a dynamical separation of magnetic components the spin mixing dynamics in $^{87}$Rb condensate is governed by dipolar interaction which plays no role in a single component rubidium system in a magnetic trap.

Chaotic dynamics in a periodically driven spin-1 condensate

We use periodically modulated magnetic fields to drive spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and study the corresponding spin-mixing dynamics. Due to the time-dependent driving, this system permits chaotic dynamics depending on the drive parameters, which could not occur in previous studies. From the investigation of the Poincar\'e sections, we find there exist complex trajectories in the phase space, leading to very complicated structures of the phase space with mixed regular and chaotic regions. By calculating the quasienergy levels of the corresponding Floquet operators, the signatures of quantum chaos are also found in this system. The level spacing distribution is very close to the Poisson distribution or Wigner distribution when the corresponding classical dynamics is regular or chaotic.

Coherent spin-mixing and wave packets dynamics of spin-1 condensates in optical lattices

The dynamics of wave packets and spin-mixing of spin-1 condensates with repulsive spin-independent and either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic spin-dependent interactions in one-dimensional (1D) periodic optical lattices are discussed both analytically and numerically. In the tight-binding limit, the localized states, i.e., self-trapping, moving soliton and breather, in spin-1 condensates are obtained. The moving soliton and breather states show complex characters: if initially the condensates are prepared in spin stationary configuration, normal stable moving soliton and breather exist; however, if initially the condensates are prepared in spin non-stationary state, because of the spin-exchange process, the wave packets experience both local soliton/breather motion and larger scale periodic oscillation (with the spin-exchange period). Interestingly, we find the spin-mixing dynamics are coupled with wave packets dynamics: when the wave packets are self-trapped, the spin-mixing oscillations are also arrested to the stationary configuration; during diffusion of the wave packets, however, the spin-mixing dynamics are inhibited; a robust quasi-periodic spin-mixing oscillation maintains in moving soliton and breather states. These interesting results open up the possibility for controlled manipulation of the spin dynamics by the optical lattices.

WHAT IF THE INFLATON IS A SPINOR CONDENSATE?

In the usual cosmological inflationary scenarios, the scalar field — the inflaton — is usually assumed to be an elementary field. In this essay, we ask: What are the observational signatures if the scalar field is a spinor condensate? And is there a way to distinguish between the canonical scalar field and the spinor-condensate-driven models? In the homogeneous and isotropic background, we show that — although the dark-spinor (Elko) condensate leads to an acceleration equation identical to that of the canonical-scalar-field-driven inflation — the dynamics of the two models are different. In the slow-roll limit, we show that the model predicts a running of the scalar spectral index consistent with the WMAP data. We show that the consistency relations between the spinor condensate and the canonical-scalar-field-driven model are different, which we will be able to test using the future CMB and gravitational wave missions.

Magneto-optical control of atomic spin mixing in dipolar spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the role in an external photoassociation light field in the spin mixing dynamics of a spin-one Bose condensate with long-range magnetic dipole-dipole interaction. The mean-field energy functional of the system is found to be formally identical to that of two coupled nonrigid pendulums, manifesting either constructive or destructive interferences. The interplay between photoassociation and the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction provides a novel route to the magneto-optical quantum control of atomic spin mixing in dipolar spinor condensates.

Magnetic phase diagram of a spin-1 condensate in two dimensions with dipole interaction

Several new features arise in the ground-state phase diagram of a spin-1 condensate trapped in an optical trap when the magnetic dipole interaction between the atoms is taken into account along with confinement and spin precession. The boundaries between the regions of ferromagnetic and polar phases move as the dipole strength is varied and the ferromagnetic phases can be modulated. The magnetization of the ferromagnetic phase perpendicular to the field becomes modulated as a helix winding around the magnetic field direction, with a wavelength inversely proportional to the dipole strength. This modulation should be observable for current experimental parameters in $^{87}$Rb. Hence the much-sought supersolid state, with broken continuous translation invariance in one direction and broken global U(1) invariance, occurs generically as a metastable state in this system as a result of dipole interaction. The ferromagnetic state parallel to the applied magnetic field becomes striped in a finite system at strong dipolar coupling.

Multiresonant Spinor Dynamics in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

We analyze the spinor dynamics of a 87Rb F=2 condensate initially prepared in the m(F) = 0 Zeeman sublevel. We show that this dynamics, characterized by the creation of correlated atomic pairs in m(F) = +/-1, presents an intriguing multiresonant magnetic-field dependence induced by the trap inhomogeneity. This dependence is directly linked to the most unstable Bogoliubov spin excitations of the initial m(F) = 0 condensate, showing that, in general, even a qualitative understanding of the pair-creation efficiency in a spinor condensate requires a careful consideration of the confinement.

Magnetoroton Softening in Rb Spinor Condensates with Dipolar Interactions

Superfluids with a tendency towards periodic order have both phonon- and rotonlike spectra. We show that magnetoroton softening occurs in 87Rb spinor condensates. A rich variety of dynamical instabilities emerges as a function of the magnetic field orientation and strength of the quadratic Zeeman shift. These instabilities are driven by an effective dipolar interaction modified dramatically by quasi-two-dimensionality and rapid Larmor precession.

Spinor Bose-Einstein condensates in a double well: Population transfer and Josephson oscillations

The dynamics of an F=1 spinor condensate in a two-well potential is studied within the framework of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We derive two-mode equations relating the population imbalances, the phase differences among the condensates at each side of the barrier and the time evolution of the different Zeeman populations for the case of small population imbalances. The case of zero total magnetization is scrutinized in this limit demonstrating the ability of a two-mode analysis to describe to a large extent the dynamics observed in the Gross-Pitaevskii equations. It is also demonstrated that the time evolution of the different total populations fully decouples from the Josephson tunneling phenomena. All the relevant time scales are clearly identified with microscopic properties of the atom-atom interactions.

Cavity-Mediated Strong Matter Wave Bistability in a Spin-1 Condensate

We study matter-wave bistability in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate dispersively coupled to a unidirectional ring cavity. A unique feature is that the population exchange among different modes of matter fields is accomplished via spin-exchange collisions. We show that the interplay between the atomic spin mixing and the cavity light field can lead to a strong matter-wave nonlinearity, making matter-wave bistability in a cavity at the single-photon level achievable.

Theory of domain formation in inhomogeneous ferromagnetic dipolar condensates within the truncated Wigner approximation

Recent experimental studies of 87 Rb spinor Bose Einstein condensates have shown the existence of a magnetic field driven quantum phase transition accompanied by structure formation on the ferromagnetic side of the transition. In this theoretical study we examine the dynamics of the unstable modes following the transition within the framework of the semiclassical truncated Wigner approximation. In the process we present a systematic study of the effects of the trap, nonlinearities, finite temperature, and dipole-dipole interactions. Starting from an initial state which includes quantum fluctuations, we attempt to make quantitative comparisons with recent experimental data on this system by combining results presented here with those presented previously S. Leslie, J. Guzman, M. Vengalattore, J. D. Sau, M. L. Cohen, and D. M. Stamper-Kurn, Phys. Rev. A 79, 043631 2009. In the process we estimate the contribution of quantum zero-point fluctuations to the domain formation with quantitative accuracy and find discrepancies between the calculations and experiments at the quantitative level, despite the qualitative agreement between theory and experiment. We discuss the possible origins of these discrepancies. Finally, using the strong anisotropy of the trap, we propose ways to observe directly the effects of dipole-dipole interactions on the spinor condensate dynamics.

Strong spin oscillation of small spin-1 condensates caused by an inclined weak magnetic field

When a magnetic field is applied along a direction deviated from the quantization $Z$-axis, the conservation of total magnetization holds no more. In this case the inclined field can cause a strong spin-evolution via the linear Zeeman term even the field is as weak as a percentage of $mG$. An approach beyond the mean field theory is proposed to study the evolution of small $^{87}$Rb condensates under the weak inclined fields. The time-dependent populations of spin-components are given in analytical forms. The evolution is found to be highly sensitive to the magnitude and direction of the field.