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arXiv:1505.01272 · Modern Physics Letters B

Self-accelerating matter waves

C. Yüce

Published Oct 1, 2015• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The free particle Schrödinger equation admits a nontrivial self-accelerating Airy wave packet solution. Recently, the Airy beams that freely accelerate in space was experimentally realized in photonics community. Here, we present self-accelerating waves for the Bose–Einstein condensate in a time-dependent harmonic oscillator potential. We show that parity and time reversal symmetries for self-accelerating waves are spontaneously broken.

DOI
10.1142/s0217984915501717

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The free particle Schrödinger equation admits a nontrivial self-accelerating Airy wave packet solution. Recently, the Airy beams that freely accelerate in space was experimentally realized in photonics community. Here, we present self-accelerating waves for the Bose–Einstein condensate in a time-dependent harmonic oscillator potential. We show that parity and time reversal symmetries for self-accelerating waves are spontaneously broken.
In 1979, Berry and Balazs [M V Berry and N L Balazs 1979 Am. J. Phys. 47 264] obtained a strict solution of the Schrödinger equation with Airy function used as the initial condition, and described the wave function represented by such solution as the Airy wave-packets. They discovered that infinite Airy wave-packet has unique properties such as non-spreading and free acceleration, proving that it is the only nontrivial non-spreading solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in one dimension. However, the observing of the finite Airy beam seems to be more meaningful since wave-packets in reality is inevitably band limited. A certain form of finite Airy beam was investigated by Siviloglou et al. in 2007 [Siviloglou G A, Broky J, Dogariu A, Christodoulides D N 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 213901; Siviloglou G A, Christodoulides D N 2007 Opt. Lett. 32 979]. They noted that the Airy wave packet still exhibits its most exotic feature, i.e., its trend toward free acceleration. While in the present paper we discuss the properties of Airy beam in a few steps further and propose several conclusions. On the one hand, a theoretic explanation is given to solve the matter of the centre of mass of infinite Airy beam. On the other hand, deeper research is conducted on the unique properties of finite Airy beam. Another form of finite Airy beam is discussed by reduction to absurdity, and its field distribution is put forward by numerical simulation. We find that the trajectory of the centroid holds its position, which means that the beam cannot accelerate freely as a whole. Ultimately, we have the conclusion that finite Airy beam can neither freely accelerate nor be non-diffractive.
We predict that classes of coherent matter waves can self-accelerate without the presence of an external potential. Such Bose-Einstein condensates can follow arbitrary power-law trajectories and can also take the form of diffraction-free Airy waves. We also show that suitably engineered radially symmetric matter waves can abruptly autofocus in space and time. We suggest different schemes for the preparation of the condensate using laser beams to imprint an amplitude or a phase pattern onto the matter wave. Direct and Fourier space generation of such waves is discussed using continuous and binary masks as well as magnetic mirrors and lenses. We study the effect of interactions and find that independently of the type and strength of the nonlinearity, the dynamics are associated with the generation of accelerating matter waves. In the case of strong attractive interactions, the acceleration is increased while the radiation reorganizes itself in the form of soliton(s).
We present the solution of Schrödinger’s equation for time-dependent quadratic potentials in terms of an Airy packet. We demonstrate new features of the Airy packet in light of its apparent unfamiliar properties discovered by Berry and Balazs (who found a nonspreading and accelerating Airy packet to be a unique solution to the free-particle Schrödinger equation). Our solution, found using space-time scale transformations, not only overcomes the packet’s tendency to accelerate, but also make it possible to spread or contract in time.
Following their discovery in the late 1970s, optical Airy beams have found numerous applications in technologies such as microscopy and optical trapping, many of which are based on the wave packets’ unique features such as zero or minimal diffraction, self-acceleration, and self-healing. Recent advancements have shown that Airy beams can also be produced using matter waves with many of the same unique characteristics of their optical counterparts. We present here a study of the recovery time of damaged matter Airy wave packets in free space and a nonlinear Kerr-type medium. We show that in free space the recovery time increases approximately linearly with mass and is independent of other kinematical parameters such as momentum, velocity, and spatial width. In the Kerr-type medium, recovery time is decreased compared to free space and does not scale linearly with mass. In order to study matter Airy beams, we introduce the Path Integral Quantum Trajectory (PIQTr) model as a new computational tool for the study of non-relativistic, quantum mechanical wave packets and demonstrate its effectiveness in dealing with heavy particle dynamics.
Self-accelerating Airy matter waves offer a clean setting to access the intrinsic cubic-in-time phase. Here we reconstruct the relative phase of simulated Airy-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates from interference fringes in free space, a regime approached in microgravity. The cubic phase dynamics are quantified via approximately debiased, windowed polynomial fits with systematics-aware uncertainty estimates that account for window-induced correlations. We compare two physically feasible phase-extraction methods, heterodyne-based and density-based, and show that an Airy-Gaussian geometry yields substantially improved robustness to fit-window selection relative to an Airy-Airy collision. In the weakly interacting regime, the extracted cubic coefficient responds linearly to leading order to the effective interaction strength, its shift from the noninteracting value providing a calibrated probe of weak mean-field nonlinearities in self-accelerating condensates.
The Airy wave packet is a solution to the potential-free Schrödinger equation that exhibits remarkable properties such as self-acceleration, nondiffraction, and self-healing. Although Airy beams are now routinely realized with electromagnetic waves and electrons, the implementation with neutrons has remained elusive due to small transverse coherence lengths, low fluence rates, and the absence of neutron lenses. In this Letter, we overcome these challenges through a holographic approach and present the first experimental demonstration of neutron Airy beams. The presented techniques pave the way for fundamental physics studies with Airy beams of nonelementary particles, the development of novel neutron optics components, and the realization of neutron Airy-vortex beams.