arXiv:1205.1094 · Physical Review A
Quantum phase transition of Bose-Einstein condensates on a nonlinear ring lattice
Zheng-Wei Zhou, Shaoliang Zhang, Xiang-Fa Zhou, Guang‐Can Guo, Xingxiang Zhou, Han Pu
Abstract
We study the phase transitions in a one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate on a ring whose atomic scattering length is modulated periodically along the ring. By using a modified Bogoliubov method to treat such a nonlinear lattice in the mean-field approximation, we find that the phase transitions are of different orders when the modulation period is 2 and greater than 2. We further perform a full quantum mechanical treatment based on the time-evolving block decimation algorithm which confirms the mean-field results and reveals interesting quantum behavior of the system. Our studies yield important knowledge of competing mechanisms behind the phase transitions and the quantum nature of this system.