Spin-mixing Dynamics Research Articles

Improving metrology with quantum scrambling in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to a cavity

Spinor Bose-Einstein condensate is an ideal candidate for implementing the many-body entanglement, quantum measurement and quantum information processing owing to its inherent spin-mixing dynamics. Here we present a system of an 87Rb atomic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an optical ring cavity, in which cavity-mediated nonlinear interactions give rise to saddle points in the semiclassical phase space, providing a general mechanism for exponential fast scrambling and metrological gain augment. We theoretically study metrological gain and fidelity out-of-time-ordered correlator based on time-reversal protocols and demonstrate that exponential rapid scrambling dynamics can enhance quantum metrology. In addition, we use the out-of-time-ordered correlator to probe dynamical phase transitions. This work is useful to understand the intrinsic relation between the concepts from different subfields of quantum science.

Detection of Entangled States Supported by Reinforcement Learning.

Discrimination of entangled states is an important element of quantum-enhanced metrology. This typically requires low-noise detection technology. Such a challenge can be circumvented by introducing nonlinear readout process. Traditionally, this is realized by reversing the very dynamics that generates the entangled state, which requires a full control over the system evolution. In this Letter, we present nonlinear readout of highly entangled states by employing reinforcement learning to manipulate the spin-mixing dynamics in a spin-1 atomic condensate. The reinforcement learning found results in driving the system toward an unstable fixed point, whereby the (to be sensed) phase perturbation is amplified by the subsequent spin-mixing dynamics. Working with a condensate of 10 900 ^{87}Rb atoms, we achieve a metrological gain of 6.97_{-1.38}^{+1.30} dB beyond the classical precision limit. Our work will open up new possibilities in unlocking the full potential of entanglement caused quantum enhancement in experiments.

Entanglement-enhanced test proposal for local Lorentz-symmetry violation via spinor atoms

Invariance under Lorentz transformations is fundamental to both the standard model and general relativity. Testing Lorentz-symmetry violation (LSV) via atomic systems attracts extensive interests in both theory and experiment. In several test proposals, the LSV violation effects are described as a local interaction and the corresponding test precision can asymptotically reach the Heisenberg limit via increasing quantum Fisher information (QFI), but the limited resolution of collective observables prevents the detection of large QFI. Here, we propose a multimode many-body quantum interferometry for testing the LSV parameter κ via an ensemble of spinor atoms. By employing an N-atom multimode GHZ state, the test precision can attain the Heisenberg limit Δκ∝1/(F2N) with the spin length F and the atom number N. We find a realistic observable (i.e. practical measurement process) to achieve the ultimate precision and analyze the LSV test via an experimentally accessible three-mode interferometry with Bose condensed spin-1 atoms for example. By selecting suitable input states and unitary recombination operation, the LSV parameter κ can be extracted via realizable population measurement. Especially, the measurement precision of the LSV parameter κ can beat the standard quantum limit and even approach the Heisenberg limit via spin mixing dynamics or driving through quantum phase transitions. Moreover, the scheme is robust against nonadiabatic effect and detection noise. Our test scheme may open up a feasible way for a drastic improvement of the LSV tests with atomic systems and provide an alternative application of multi-particle entangled states.

Controlling atomic spin mixing via multiphoton transitions in a cavity

We propose to control spin-mixing dynamics in a gas of spinor atoms, via the combination of two off-resonant Raman transition pathways, enabled by a common cavity mode and a bichromatic pump laser. The mixing rate, which is proportional to the synthesized spin-exchange interaction strength, and the effective atomic quadratic Zeeman shift (QZS), can both be tuned by changing the pump laser parameters. Quench and driving dynamics of the atomic collective spin are shown to be controllable on a faster time scale than in existing experiments based on inherent spin-exchange collision interactions. The results we present open a promising avenue for exploring spin-mixing physics of atomic ensembles accessible in current experiments.

Universal spin-mixing oscillations in a strongly interacting one-dimensional Fermi gas

We study the spin-mixing dynamics of a one-dimensional strongly repulsive Fermi gas under harmonic confinement. By employing a mapping onto an inhomogeneous isotropic Heisenberg model and the symmetries under particle exchange, we follow the dynamics till very long times. Starting from an initial spin-separated state, we observe superdiffusion, spin-dipolar large amplitude oscillations and thermalization. We report a universal scaling of the oscillations with particle number N^1/4, implying a slow-down of the motion and the decrease of the zero-temperature spin drag coefficient as the particle number grows.

Nonlinear interferometry beyond classical limit enabled by cyclic dynamics

Time-reversed evolution has substantial implications in physics, including prominent applications in refocusing of classical waves or spins and fundamental researches such as quantum information scrambling. In quantum metrology, nonlinear interferometry based on time reversal protocols supports entanglement-enhanced measurements without requiring low-noise detection. Despite the broad interest in time reversal, it remains challenging to reverse the quantum dynamics of an interacting many-body system as is typically realized by an (effective) sign-flip of the system's Hamiltonian. Here, we present an approach that is broadly applicable to cyclic systems for implementing nonlinear interferometry without invoking time reversal. Inspired by the observation that the time-reversed dynamics drives a system back to its starting point, we propose to accomplish the same by slaving the system to travel along a 'closed-loop' instead of explicitly tracing back its antecedent path. Utilizing the quasi-periodic spin mixing dynamics in a three-mode $^{87}$Rb atom spinor condensate, we implement such a 'closed-loop' nonlinear interferometer and achieve a metrological gain of $3.87_{-0.95}^{+0.91}$ decibels over the classical limit for a total of 26500 atoms. Our approach unlocks the high potential of nonlinear interferometry by allowing the dynamics to penetrate into deep nonlinear regime, which gives rise to highly entangled non-Gaussian state. The idea of bypassing time reversal may open up new opportunities in the experimental investigation of researches that are typically studied by using time reversal protocols.

Quantum Zeno control of spin mixing and squeezing in a spinor Bose–Einstein condensate

We study the effect of dephasing on the spin-mixing dynamics of a spinor Bose–Einstein condensate. We focus on a short-time dynamics and derive an analytical dynamics equations for the system by using mean-field approximation. We show the spin-mixing is suppressed via a quantum Zeno effect (QZE) in which the phase-noise intensity is much stronger than the inverse correlation time of the stimulated process. We also investigate the spin-nematic squeezing in the process of spin-mixing dynamics and show the squeezing is restrained by the QZE.

Phase diagram, stability and magnetic properties of nonlinear excitations in spinor Bose–Einstein condensates

We present the phase diagram, the underlying stability and magnetic properties as well as the dynamics of nonlinear solitary wave excitations arising in the distinct phases of a harmonically confined spinor F = 1 Bose–Einstein condensate. Particularly, it is found that nonlinear excitations in the form of dark–dark–bright solitons exist in the antiferromagnetic and in the easy-axis phase of a spinor gas, being generally unstable in the former while possessing stability intervals in the latter phase. Dark–bright–bright solitons can be realized in the polar and the easy-plane phases as unstable and stable configurations respectively; the latter phase can also feature stable dark–dark–dark solitons. Importantly, the persistence of these types of states upon transitioning, by means of tuning the quadratic Zeeman coefficient from one phase to the other is unravelled. Additionally, the spin-mixing dynamics of stable and unstable matter waves is analyzed, revealing among others the coherent evolution of magnetic dark–bright, nematic dark–bright–bright and dark–dark–dark solitons. Moreover, for the unstable cases unmagnetized or magnetic droplet-like configurations and spin-waves consisting of regular and magnetic solitons are seen to dynamically emerge remaining thereafter robust while propagating for extremely large evolution times. Interestingly, exposing spinorial solitons to finite temperatures, their anti-damping in trap oscillation is showcased. It is found that the latter is suppressed for stronger bright soliton component ‘fillings’. Our investigations pave the wave for a systematic production and analysis involving spin transfer processes of such waveforms which have been recently realized in ultracold experiments.

Critically enhanced spin-nematic squeezing and entanglement in dipolar spinor condensates

We study the quantum critical effect enhanced spin-nematic squeezing and quantum Fisher information (QFI) in the spin-1 dipolar atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. We show that the quantum phase transitions can improve the squeezing and QFI in the nearby regime of critical point, and the Heisenberg-limited high-precision metrology can be obtained. The different properties of the ground squeezing and entanglement under even and odd number of atoms are further analyzed, by calculating the exact analytical expressions.We also demonstrate the squeezing and entanglement generated by the spin-mixing dynamics around the phase transition point. It is shown that the steady squeezing and entanglement can be obtained, and the Bogoliubov approximation can well describe the dynamics of spin-nematic squeezed vacuum state.

Quantum Quench and Nonequilibrium Dynamics in Lattice-Confined Spinor Condensates.

We present an experimental study on nonequilibrium dynamics of a spinor condensate after it is quenched across a superfluid to Mott insulator (MI) phase transition in cubic lattices. Intricate dynamics consisting of spin-mixing oscillations at multiple frequencies are observed in time evolutions of the spinor condensate localized in deep lattices after the quantum quench. Similar spin dynamics also appear after spinor gases in the MI phase are suddenly moved away from their ground states via quenching magnetic fields. We confirm these observed spectra of spin-mixing dynamics can be utilized to reveal atom number distributions of an inhomogeneous system, and to study transitions from two-body to many-body dynamics. Our data also imply the nonequilibrium dynamics depend weakly on the quench speed but strongly on the lattice potential. This enables precise measurements of the spin-dependent interaction, a key parameter determining the spinor physics.

Interferometric measurement of interhyperfine scattering lengths in Rb87

We present interferometeric measurements of the $f=1$ to $f=2$ inter-hyperfine scattering lengths in a single-domain spinor Bose-Einstein condensate of $^{87}$Rb. The inter-hyperfine interaction leads to a strong and state-dependent modification of the spin-mixing dynamics with respect to a non-interacting description. We employ hyperfine-specific Faraday-rotation probing to reveal the evolution of the transverse magnetization in each hyperfine manifold for different state preparations, and a comagnetometer strategy to cancel laboratory magnetic noise. The method allows precise determination of inter-hyperfine scattering length differences, calibrated to intra-hyperfine scattering length differences. We report $(a_{3}^{(12)}-a_{2}^{(12)})/(a_{2}^{(1)}-a_{0}^{(1)})=-1.27(15)$ and $(a_{1}^{(12)}-a_{2}^{(12)})/(a_{2}^{(1)}-a_{0}^{(1)})=-1.31(13)$, limited by atom number uncertainty. With achievable control of atom number, we estimate precisions of $ \approx 0.3\%$ should be possible with this technique.

Controlled generation of dark-bright soliton complexes in two-component and spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

We report on the controlled creation of multiple soliton complexes of the dark-bright type in one-dimensional two-component, three-component and spinor Bose-Einstein condensates. The formation of these states is based on the so-called matter wave interference of separated condensate fragments. In all three cases a systematic numerical study is carried out upon considering different variations of each systems' parameters both in the absence and in the presence of a harmonic trap. It is found that the judicious selection of the initial separation or the chemical potential of the participating components can be utilized to tailor the number of nucleated states. The latter increases as the former parameters are increased. Similarities and differences of the distinct models considered herein are showcased while the robustness of the emerging states is illustrated via the numerical experiments demonstrating their long time propagation. Importantly, for the spinorial system, we unravel the existence of beating dark soliton arrays that are formed due to the spin-mixing dynamics. These states persist in the presence of a parabolic trap, often relevant for associated experimental realizations.

Spin Mixing Dynamics in a Spin–Orbit Coupled Bose–Einstein Condensate

We investigate the spin mixing dynamics of a spin–orbit coupled Bose–Einstein condensate by using a variational approach. It is shown that the spin mixing dynamics can be well described by an internal Josephson equation. In the nonzero momentum phase, the spin mixing dynamics leads to a spin polarization, i.e., most atoms are suppressed in the one of the two spin states. In the zero momentum phase, the internal Josephson oscillation between the two spin states takes place. Thus, the coupling effects of spin–orbit coupling, Raman coupling and atomic interaction can result in the transition between the spin polarization and the internal Josephson oscillation of the two spin states, which provide a theoretical evidence for elaborating the spin mixing dynamics. Moreover, at the phase transition point, the oscillation period of the spin mixing dynamics tends to infinity. This can be used to explore the phase transition experimentally. The accurate manipulation of the spin mixing dynamics can provide a theoretical evidence for designing the atomic device.

Spin mixing dynamics in a spin-orbit coupled spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate

We study the spin mixing dynamics of a spin-orbit coupled spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate. Using mean-field theory and adopting plane wave solutions, the spin mixing dynamics can be well described by an internal Josephson equation. In order to establish the role of the different terms in spin mixing dynamics clearly, we consider the equilibrium state firstly, which shows that the spin-orbit coupling can significantly modify the dispersion relation and change the property of ground state of the condensate. For the non-equilibrium state, the spin-orbit coupling plays an important role in the spin mixing dynamics. Moreover, the oscillation period of spin mixing dynamics is determined by the coupled effects of momentum, magnetization, spin-dependent atomic interaction and spin-orbit coupling. When spin-orbit coupling is less than a critical value, it can prolong the oscillation period of spin mixing dynamics. Conversely, when the spin-orbit coupling is larger than the critical value, it can shorten the oscillation period of spin mixing dynamics. Particularly, when spin-orbit coupling is equal to the critical value, the period tends to infinity. Our study provides a complete spin mixing dynamics of spin-orbit coupled spin-1 BEC, which can be used to explore the spin mixing dynamics experimentally.

Spin mixing and protection of ferromagnetism in a spinor dipolar condensate

We study spin mixing dynamics in a chromium dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensate, after tilting the atomic spins by an angle $\theta$ with respect to the magnetic field. Spin mixing is triggered by dipolar coupling, but, once dynamics has started, it is mostly driven by contact interactions. For the particular case $\theta=\pi/2$, an external spin-orbit coupling term induced by a magnetic gradient is required to enable the dynamics. Then the initial ferromagnetic character of the gas is locally preserved, an unexpected feature that we attribute to large spin-dependent contact interactions.

Generation of twin-Fock states for precision measurement beyond the standard quantum limit

The highest precision achievable for a two-mode (two-path) classical interferometer is bounded by 1/√N (with NN</span/2) in each mode). In the past, either through optical spontaneous parametric-down-conversion or through quantum-gate operations on trapped ions, twin-Fock states consisting of no more than 10 photons or ions have been realized. In recent years, twin-Fock states made up of a few thousand atoms have been generated using spin-mixing dynamics in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). However, these twin-Fock states exhibit huge fluctuation in particle numbers, thereby limiting their potential applications. We recently generated twin-Fock states of about 11000 atoms in a deterministic manner by driving a spin-1 BEC through quantum critical points (QCPs) slowly. Even though substantial excitations occur while crossing the QCP regions during the drive, this method is capable of generating highly entangled twin-Fock states because of the very different structures of the system's low-lying eigenstates across the QCPs. The samples we prepare feature a number squeezing of 10.7±0.6 decibels and a normalized collective spin length of 0.99±0.01. Together, they infer a minimum entanglement cluster (or entanglement breadth) of 910 atoms. This article introduces the background and advancement of this research.

Spectroscopy and spin dynamics for strongly interacting few-spinor bosons in one-dimensional traps

We consider a one-dimensional trapped gas of strongly interacting few spin-1 atoms which can be described by an effective spin chain Hamiltonian. Away from the SU(3) integrable point, where the energy spectrum is highly degenerate, the rules of ordering and crossing of the energy levels and the symmetry of the eigenstates in the regime of large but finite repulsion have been elucidated. We study the spin-mixing dynamics which is shown to be very sensitive to the ratio between the two channel interactions g0/g2 and the effective spin chain transfers the quantum states more perfectly than the Heisenberg bilinear-biquadratic spin chain.

Quantum control of spin-nematic squeezing in a dipolar spin-1 condensate

Versatile controllability of interactions and magnetic field in ultracold atomic gases ha now reached an era where spin mixing dynamics and spin-nematic squeezing can be studied. Recent experiments have realized spin-nematic squeezed vacuum and dynamic stabilization following a quench through a quantum phase transition. Here we propose a scheme for storage of maximal spin-nematic squeezing, with its squeezing angle maintained in a fixed direction, in a dipolar spin-1 condensate by applying a microwave pulse at a time that maximal squeezing occurs. The dynamic stabilization of the system is achieved by manipulating the external periodic microwave pulses. The stability diagram for the range of pulse periods and phase shifts that stabilize the dynamics is numerical simulated and agrees with a stability analysis. Moreover, the stability range coincides well with the spin-nematic vacuum squeezed region which indicates that the spin-nematic squeezed vacuum will never disappear as long as the spin dynamics are stabilized.

Spin-1 quantum walks

We study the quantum walks of two interacting spin-1 bosons. We derive an exact solution for the time-dependent wave function that describes the two-particle dynamics governed by the one-dimensional spin-1 Bose-Hubbard model. We show that propagation dynamics in real space and mixing dynamics in spin space are correlated via the spin-dependent interaction in this system. The spin-mixing dynamics has two characteristic frequencies in the limit of large spin-dependent interactions. One of the characteristic frequencies is determined by the energy difference between two bound states, and the other frequency relates to the cotunneling process of a pair of spin-1 bosons. Furthermore, we numerically analyze the growth of the spin correlations in quantum walks. We find that long-range spin correlations emerge showing a clear dependence on the sign of the spin-dependent interaction and the initial state.

Phase diagram and spin mixing dynamics in spinor condensates with a microwave dressing field.

Spinor condensates immersed in a microwave dressing field, which access both negative and positive values of the net quadratic Zeeman effect, have been realized in a recent experiment. In this report, we study the ground state properties of a spinor condensate with a microwave dressing field which enables us to access both negative and positive values of quadratic Zeeman energy. The ground state exhibits three different phases by varying the magnetization and the net quadratic Zeeman energy for both cases of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. We investigate the atomic-number fluctuations of the ground state and show that the hyperfine state displays super-Poissonian and sub-Poissonian distributions in the different phases. We also discuss the dynamical properties and show that the separatrix has a remarkable relation to the magnetization.