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arXiv:1711.07275 · Physical Review A

Onset of a modulational instability in trapped dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

Igor Ferrier-Barbut, Matthias Wenzel, Matthias Schmitt, Fabian Böttcher, Tilman Pfau

Published Jan 25, 2018• 51 citations
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Abstract

We explore the phase diagram of a finite-sized dysprosium dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in a cylindrical harmonic trap. We monitor the final state after the scattering length is lowered from the repulsive BEC regime to the quantum droplet regime. Either an adiabatic transformation between a BEC and a quantum droplet is obtained or, above a critical trap aspect ratio ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{c}}=1.87(14)$, a modulational instability results in the formation of multiple droplets. This is in full agreement with the predicted structure of the phase diagram with a crossover region below ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{c}}$ and a multistable region above. Our results provide the missing piece connecting the previously explored regimes resulting in a single or multiple dipolar quantum droplets.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.97.011604

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We explore the phase diagram of a finite-sized dysprosium dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in a cylindrical harmonic trap. We monitor the final state after the scattering length is lowered from the repulsive BEC regime to the quantum droplet regime. Either an adiabatic transformation between a BEC and a quantum droplet is obtained or, above a critical trap aspect ratio \ensuremathλc=1.87(14){\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{c}}=1.87(14)\ensuremathλc​=1.87(14), a modulational instability results in the formation of multiple droplets. This is in full agreement with the predicted structure of the phase diagram with a crossover region below \ensuremathλc{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{c}}\ensuremathλc​ and a multistable region above. Our results provide the missing piece connecting the previously explored regimes resulting in a single or multiple dipolar quantum droplets.
We study the statics and dynamics of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) droplet bound by interspecies contact interaction in a trapped nondipolar BEC. Our findings are demonstrated in terms of stability plots of a dipolar 164{}^{164}164Dy droplet bound in a trapped nondipolar 87{}^{87}87Rb BEC with a variable number of 164{}^{164}164Dy atoms and interspecies scattering length. A trapped nondipolar BEC of a fixed number of atoms can bind only a dipolar droplet containing fewer atoms than a critical number for the interspecies scattering length between two critical values. The shape and size (statics) as well as the small breathing oscillation (dynamics) of the dipolar BEC droplet are studied using numerical and variational solutions of a mean-field model. We also suggest an experimental procedure for achieving such a 164{}^{164}164Dy droplet by relaxing the trap on the 164{}^{164}164Dy BEC in a trapped binary 87{}^{87}87Rb-164{}^{164}164Dy mixture.
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Collapse in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates may be arrested by quantum fluctuations. Due to the anisotropy of the dipole-dipole interactions, the dipole-driven collapse induced by soft excitations is compensated by the repulsive Lee-Huang-Yang contribution resulting from quantum fluctuations of hard excitations, in a similar mechanism as that recently proposed for Bose-Bose mixtures. The arrested collapse results in self-bound filamentlike droplets, providing an explanation for the intriguing results of recent dysprosium experiments. Arrested instability and droplet formation are general features directly linked to the nature of the dipole-dipole interactions, and should hence play an important role in all future experiments with strongly dipolar gases.
Ultracold dipolar droplets have been realized in a series of ground-breaking experiments, where the stability of the droplet state is attributed to beyond-mean-field effects in the form of the celebrated Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) correction. We scrutinize the dipolar droplet states in a one-dimensional context using a combination of analytical and numerical approaches, and identify experimentally viable parameters for accessing our findings for future experiments. In particular we identify regimes of stability in the restricted geometry, finding multiple roton instabilities as well as regions supporting quasi-one-dimensional droplet states. By applying an interaction quench to the droplet, a modulational instability is induced and multiple droplets are produced, along with bright solitons and atomic radiation. We also assess the droplets robustness to collisions, revealing population transfer and droplet fission.
We theoretically investigate the ground-state properties and breathing-mode collective excitations of three-dimensional dipolar Bose gases in anisotropic harmonic traps incorporating quantum fluctuations. Combining a Gaussian variational ansatz with a non-perturbative sum-rule analysis, we derive explicit analytical expressions for both axial and radial breathing-mode frequencies, which are validated by numerical solutions of the time-dependent extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Our theoretical predictions show excellent agreement with existing experimental data for 166^{166}166Er and 162^{162}162Dy gases. By constructing comprehensive phase diagrams across the parameter space of the sss-wave scattering length, atom number, and trap aspect ratio, we reveal both discontinuous first-order phase transitions and smooth crossovers between the dilute Bose-Einstein condensate and dense quantum droplet phases. We confirm that the enhanced incompressibility induced by quantum fluctuations significantly elevates the breathing-mode frequencies in the droplet phase compared to conventional weakly interacting Bose gases. Furthermore, the system undergoes a phase transition and a crossover over the scattering length under the quasi-two-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional confinements, characterized by discontinuous jumps and continuous crossovers in peak density and atomic cloud sizes, respectively. Our work offers a rigorous and highly accurate framework to characterize collective excitations in dipolar quantum gases, providing quantitative insights for forthcoming ultracold atom experiments in lanthanide atoms and polar molecules.
Abstract Ultracold dipolar droplets have been realized in a series of ground-breaking experiments, where the stability of the droplet state is attributed to beyond-mean-field effects in the form of the celebrated Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) correction. We scrutinize the dipolar droplet states in a one-dimensional context using a combination of analytical and numerical approaches, and identify experimentally viable parameters for accessing our findings for future experiments. In particular we identify regimes of stability in the restricted geometry, finding multiple roton instabilities as well as regions supporting quasi-one-dimensional droplet states. By applying an interaction quench to the droplet, a modulational instability is induced and multiple droplets are produced, along with bright solitons and atomic radiation. We also assess the droplets robustness to collisions, revealing population transfer and droplet fission.