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arXiv:0803.4189 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Atomic Zitterbewegung

M. Merkl, Frank Zimmer, Gediminas Juzeliūnas, Patrik Öhberg

Published Aug 28, 2008• 64 citations
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Abstract

Ultracold atoms which are subject to ultra-relativistic dynamics are investigated. By using optically induced gauge potentials we show that the dynamics of the atoms is governed by a Dirac-type equation. To illustrate this we study the trembling motion of the centre of mass for an effective two-level system, historically called Zitterbewegung. Its origin is described in detail, where in particular the role of the finite width of the atomic wave packets is seen to induce a damping of both the centre of mass dynamics and the dynamics of the populations of the two levels.

DOI
10.1209/0295-5075/83/54002

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Ultracold atoms which are subject to ultra-relativistic dynamics are investigated. By using optically induced gauge potentials we show that the dynamics of the atoms is governed by a Dirac-type equation. To illustrate this we study the trembling motion of the centre of mass for an effective two-level system, historically called Zitterbewegung. Its origin is described in detail, where in particular the role of the finite width of the atomic wave packets is seen to induce a damping of both the centre of mass dynamics and the dynamics of the populations of the two levels.
Zitterbewegung, a force-free trembling motion first predicted for relativistic fermions like electrons, was an unexpected consequence of the Dirac equation's unification of quantum mechanics and special relativity. Though the oscillatory motion's large frequency and small amplitude have precluded its measurement with electrons, zitterbewegung is observable via quantum simulation. We engineered an environment for 87 Rb Bose–Einstein condensates where the constituent atoms behaved like relativistic particles subject to the one-dimensional Dirac equation. With direct imaging, we observed the sub-micrometre trembling motion of these clouds, demonstrating the utility of neutral ultracold quantum gases for simulating Dirac particles.
The motional trembling(‘zitterbewegung’)of a relativistic electron governed by Dirac equation was originally predicted by Schr¨odinger in the early days of quantum mechanics and simulated in a recent experiment with a single trapped ultracold ion.We investigate stable and instable confinements of a single trapped ion in a Paul trap under different conditions relevant to parity.Since our treatment involves neither restriction of Lamb-Dicke limit nor rotating-wave approximation,we may demonstrate different quantum dynamics of the single trapped ion in a wide range of the trapping parameters.We discuss the origin of the zitterbewegung which is relevant to the stability of the ion trapping.
Abstract The dynamics of non-interacting ultracold atoms with artificial spin–orbit coupling is considered. Spin–orbit coupling is created using two moving optical lattices with orthogonal polarizations. Our main goal is to study influence of lattice noise on Rabi oscillations. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of the Zitterbewegung being trembling motion caused by Rabi transitions between states with different velocities. Phase and amplitude fluctuations of lattices are modelled by means of the two-dimensional stochastic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, also known as harmonic noise. In the the noiseless case the problem is solved analytically in terms of the momentum representation. It is shown that lattice noise significantly extends duration of the Zitterbewegung as compared to the noiseless case. This effect originates from noise-induced decoherence of Rabi oscillations.
Zitterbewegung (ZB) is a phenomenon in relativistic quantum systems where the electron wave packet exhibits a trembling or oscillating behavior during its motion, caused by its interaction or coupling with the negative energy state. To directly observe ZB in electronic systems is difficult, due to the challenges associated with the small amplitude of the motion which is of the order of Compton wavelength. Photonic systems offer an alternative paradigm. We exploit the concept of pseudo parity-time (pseudo ) symmetry to study ZB in non-Hermitian quantum systems implemented as an experimentally feasible optical waveguide array. In particular, the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is realized through evanescent coupling among the waveguides to form a one-dimensional lattice with periodic modulations in gain and loss along the guiding direction. As the modulation frequency is changed, we obtain a number of phenomena including periodically suppressed ZB trembling, spatial energy localization, and Hermitian-like ZB oscillations. We calculate phase diagrams indicating the emergence of different types of dynamical behaviors of the relativistic non-Hermitian quantum system in an experimentally justified parameter space. We provide numerical results and a physical analysis to explain the distinct dynamical behaviors revealed by the phase diagrams. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of both the relativistic ZB phenomenon and non-Hermitian pseudo- systems, with potential applications in controlling/harnessing light propagation in waveguide-based optical systems.