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arXiv:0901.3345 · Physical Review A

Quantum dynamics of instability-induced pulsations of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice

Uttam Shrestha, Juha Javanainen, Janne Ruostekoski

Published Apr 16, 2009• 7 citations
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Abstract

We study quantum dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a one-dimensional optical lattice in the limit of weak atom-atom interactions within the truncated Wigner approximation for a system with one dynamically unstable mode. This extends previous classical studies of a pulsating dynamical instability in which atoms periodically collect together and subsequently disperse back into the initial homogeneous state. We observe that the quasiperiodic behavior still persists in the presence of quantum fluctuations for a single realization that represents a typical experimental outcome, but ensemble averages show various manifestations of quantum statistics. Quantum effects become more prominent when the effective interaction strength is increased.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.79.043617

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We study quantum dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a one-dimensional optical lattice in the limit of weak atom-atom interactions within the truncated Wigner approximation for a system with one dynamically unstable mode. This extends previous classical studies of a pulsating dynamical instability in which atoms periodically collect together and subsequently disperse back into the initial homogeneous state. We observe that the quasiperiodic behavior still persists in the presence of quantum fluctuations for a single realization that represents a typical experimental outcome, but ensemble averages show various manifestations of quantum statistics. Quantum effects become more prominent when the effective interaction strength is increased.
We study the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a one dimensional optical lattice in the limit of weak atom-atom interactions. Numerically we find that a BEC may develop a pulsating instability in which atoms nearly periodically collect themselves into a pulse and subsequently disperse back into the initial homogeneous state. A qualitative explanation of the quasi-periodic behavior is given by drawing an analogy with a double-well system. In an extension we introduce quantum effects approximately within Truncated Wigner Approximation (TWA). In pure classical mean field theory the condensate shows an undamped pulsating instability, whereas we have observed a damping in the oscillation when we average over many stochastic realizations.
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in an optical lattice driven out of equilibrium and the subsequent dynamics are investigated in the limit of weak atom-atom interactions both within the classical mean-field approximation and by incorporating an approximate model for quantum fluctuations. A prediction of pulsating dynamical instability in which atoms periodically collect together and subsequently disperse back into the initial homogeneous state is made. This instability is a unique feature of this Hamiltonian system characterized by a single unstable mode and can be considered as a remnant of the integrability of the non-integrable system. A phase-space model has been employed to incorporate the quantum fluctuations within the truncated Wigner approximation. It is observed that the quasiperiodic behavior of the pulsating dynamics persists in the individual stochastic realizations that represent the typical experimental outcomes, but the effect of quantum fluctuations is manifested in the ensemble averages of various properties of the system. Quantum effects are increasingly prominent and the revivals of the ensemble averages of the wave function become progressively weaker when the effective interaction strength is increased. Motivated by these predictions, we apply similar methods to two-component BECs. Within the mean-field model we demonstrate a spontaneous emergence of a vector soliton like structure, a bound pair of a soliton and an anti-soliton, from the homogeneous imbalanced mixture of two BEC species. This is a feature that uniquely combines phase separation, pulsating instability, and formation of a dark-bright soliton pair when the parameters involved are tuned properly. ^
We study the splitting of a harmonically trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate when we continuously turn up an optical lattice (or a double-well) potential. As the lattice height is increased, quantum fluctuations of atoms are enhanced. The resulting nonequilibrium dynamics of the fragmentation process of the condensate, the loss of the phase coherence of atoms along the lattice, and the reduced atom number fluctuations in individual lattice sites are stochastically studied within the truncated Wigner approximation. We perform a detailed study of the effects of temperature and lattice height on atom dynamics, and investigate the validity of the classical Gross-Pitaevskii equation in optical lattices. We find the atom number squeezing to saturate in deep lattices due to nonadiabaticity in turning up of the lattice potential that is challenging to avoid in experiments when the occupation number of the lattice sites is large, making it difficult to produce strongly number squeezed (or the Mott insulator) states with large filling factors. We also investigate some general numerical properties of the truncated Wigner approximation.
We present a joint theoretical and experimental study of the dynamical instability of a Bose---Einstein condensate at the band edge of a one-dimensional optical lattice. The instability manifests as rapid depletion of the condensate and conversion to a thermal cloud. We consider the collisional processes that can occur in such a system, and undertake a thorough theoretical study of the dynamical instability in systems of different dimensionality. We find spontaneous scattering is an important part of this process, and thus the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is unable to accurately predict the dynamics in this system. Our beyond mean-field approach, known as the truncated Wigner method, allows us to make quantitative predictions for the processes of parametric growth and heating that are observed in the laboratory, and we find good agreement with the experimental results.
We reexamine dipolar motion of condensate atoms in one-dimensional optical lattices and harmonic magnetic traps including quantum fluctuations within the truncated Wigner approximation. In the strong tunneling limit we reproduce the mean field results with a sharp dynamical transition at the critical displacement. When the tunneling is reduced, on the contrary, strong quantum fluctuations lead to finite damping of condensate oscillations even at infinitesimal displacement. We argue that there is a smooth crossover between the chaotic classical transition at finite displacement and the superfluid-to-insulator phase transition at zero displacement. We further analyze the time dependence of the density fluctuations and of the coherence of the condensate and find several nontrivial dynamical effects, which can be observed in the present experimental conditions.