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arXiv:1812.05114 · Physical Review A

From the moving piston to the dynamical Casimir effect: Explorations with shaken condensates

Marios H. Michael, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Eugene Demler

Published May 22, 2019• 17 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Recent experimental realizations of uniform confining potentials for ultracold atoms make it possible to create quantum acoustic resonators and explore nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum field theories. These systems offer a promising platform for studying the dynamical Casimir effect, since they allow one to achieve relativistic, i.e., near sonic, velocities of the boundaries. In comparison to previously studied optical and classical hydrodynamic systems, ultracold atoms allow one to realize a broader class of dynamical experiments combining both classical driving and vacuum squeezing. In this paper, we discuss theoretically two types of experiments with interacting one-dimensional condensates with moving boundaries. Our analysis is based on the Luttinger liquid model which utilizes the emergent conformal symmetry of the low-energy sector of the Lieb-Liniger model. The first system we consider is a variable-length interferometer with two Y-shaped junctions connected back to back. We demonstrate that dynamics of the relative phase between the two arms of the interferometer can be analyzed using the formalism developed by Moore in the problem of electromagnetic vacuum squeezing in a cavity with moving mirrors. The second system we discuss is a single condensate in a box potential with periodically moving walls. This system exhibits classical excitation of the mode resonant with the drive as well as nonlinear generation of off-resonant modes. In addition, we find strong parametric multimode squeezing between modes whose energy difference matches integer multiples of the drive frequency.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.99.053615

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Recent experimental realizations of uniform confining potentials for ultracold atoms make it possible to create quantum acoustic resonators and explore nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum field theories. These systems offer a promising platform for studying the dynamical Casimir effect, since they allow one to achieve relativistic, i.e., near sonic, velocities of the boundaries. In comparison to previously studied optical and classical hydrodynamic systems, ultracold atoms allow one to realize a broader class of dynamical experiments combining both classical driving and vacuum squeezing. In this paper, we discuss theoretically two types of experiments with interacting one-dimensional condensates with moving boundaries. Our analysis is based on the Luttinger liquid model which utilizes the emergent conformal symmetry of the low-energy sector of the Lieb-Liniger model. The first system we consider is a variable-length interferometer with two Y-shaped junctions connected back to back. We demonstrate that dynamics of the relative phase between the two arms of the interferometer can be analyzed using the formalism developed by Moore in the problem of electromagnetic vacuum squeezing in a cavity with moving mirrors. The second system we discuss is a single condensate in a box potential with periodically moving walls. This system exhibits classical excitation of the mode resonant with the drive as well as nonlinear generation of off-resonant modes. In addition, we find strong parametric multimode squeezing between modes whose energy difference matches integer multiples of the drive frequency.
It is a remarkable prediction of quantum field theory that the vacuum can generate real particles when boundary conditions are suddenly changed. Thus the 'dynamical Casimir effect' results in the spontaneous generation of photon pairs in an empty cavity with nonuniformly accelerating boundaries. Recent advances have permitted the realization of this effect, or analogs to it in a variety of systems, some of which will be discussed at this workshop. Bose Einstein condensates are attractive candidates in which to study acoustic analogs to such phenomena because their low temperatures promise to reveal quantum effects. I will discuss a recent experiment in our group to realize an acoustic analog to the dynamical Casimir effect by modulating the confinement of a Bose-Einstein condensate. We observe correlated pairs of Bogoliubov quanta, both phonon-like and particle-like, are excited by this modulation in a process that formally resembles parametric down conversion. I will discuss our current ideas on how to observe and quantify the degree of entanglement in the excitations we observe.
We present a detailed investigation of one of the cleanest examples where it is possible to detect the “analog” Dynamical Casimir Effect in a Bose–Einstein condensate: an ultracold atom gas in toroidal confinement. The analytical solution of the time dependent Gross–Pitaevskii equation allows to follow the time evolution of the phonon spectrum and shows that periodic oscillations of the ring radius do not induce modulations in the density profile but give rise to the mixing of clockwise and anticlockwise modes, leading to the creation of pairs of entangled phonons in a squeezed vacuum state, if the drive frequency equals twice the frequency of the phonon mode. The Dynamical Casimir Effect is predicted to occur in the weakly interacting regime, where the Gross–Pitaevskii equation provides a faithful description of the many body dynamics. In the strong coupling limit, when the ultracold gas behaves as hard core bosons, the effect disappears and no amplification occurs. The presence of symmetry-breaking perturbations and finite temperature effects are also considered, as well as the comparison with the classical phenomenon of parametric amplification.
Abstract Using two different schemes, a non-classical-squeezed state of light is detected and characterized. In the first scheme, in a one-dimensional cavity with a moving mirror (non-stationary Casimir effect) in the principal mode, we study the photon generation rate for two modes (squeezed and coherent state) of a driving field. Since the cavity with the moving mirror (similar to an optomechanical system) can be considered an analogue to a Kerr-like medium, in the second scheme, the probability amplitude for multi-photon absorption in a nonlinear (Kerr) medium will be quantum mechanically calculated. It is shown that because of the presence of nonlinear effects, the responses of these two systems to the squeezed versus coherent state are considerably distinguishable. The drastic difference between the results of these two states of light can be viewed as a proposal for detecting non-classical states.
The understanding of quantum many-body physics is the key to develop new quantum technologies including novel quantum materials, high-precision sensors, and quantum computers. However, understanding the general quantum many-body physics is extremely difficult, particularly when such systems are driven far from an equilibrium state. Ultracold atoms, a clean, fully controllable, and coherent quantum many-body systems can provide useful insights into the fundamental properties of quantum matter. This thesis discusses experiments on studying nonequilibrium dynamics in driven ultracold bosonic atoms with fantastic static and dynamical controls of the inter-particle interactions through Feshbach resonances and external trapping potentials using optical lattices and digital micromirror device (DMD). With this versatile apparatus, we first study the critical dynamics across a quantum phase transition in shaken optical lattices. Across a ferromagnetic transition where the Z2\mathbb{Z}_2Z2​ inversion symmetry is broken, we are interested in how the system evolves toward the new ground states generally with a different symmetry. Utilizing the phase imprinting technique with DMD, we show that the macroscopic coherence is maintained across the phase transition, the system undergoes a coherent population transfer of particles toward lower energy states and quantum fluctuations determine the domain structure but do not destroy the macroscopic coherence. We then present the complex correlations rising from the matter-wave version of a high-harmonic generation with oscillating interaction. This high-harmonic generation of matterwave is a result of stimulated secondary collisions. The stimulated primary collisions, two condensate atoms collide absorbing one energy quantum from the oscillating field, give rise to the first observation of Bose fireworks. The scattered atoms from the primary collisions can further collide with each other or the ground-state atoms from the condensate and such secondary collisions promote atoms to higher momentum modes. Moreover, we show the density-wave dynamics prior to the jets emission within the condensate with oscillating interactions and explain the asymmetry in the jets emission pattern based on near-field interference. Besides, we further demonstrate the spatial and temporal phase coherence of the emitted jets using matter-wave interference and connect our matter-wave jets emission to the famous Unruh radiation in relativistic physics.
After the first experimental realization of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in 1995, BECs have become a subject of intense experimental and theoretical study. In this dissertation, I present our results on the classical and quantum dynamics of BECs at zero temperature under different scenarios. First, I consider the analog of slow light in the collision of two BECs near a Feshbach resonance. The scattering length then becomes a function of the collision energy. I derive a generalization of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for incorporating this energy dependence. In certain parameter regimes, the group velocity of a BEC traveling through another BEC decreases. I also study the feasibility of an experimental realization of this phenomena. Second, I analyze an experiment in which a BEC in a ring-shaped trap is stirred by a rotating barrier. The phase drop across and current flow through the barrier is measured from spiral-shaped density profiles created by interfering the BEC in the ring-shaped trap and a concentric reference BEC after release from all trapping potentials. I show that a free-particle expansion is sufficient to explain the origin of the spiral pattern and relate the phase drop to the geometry of a spiral. I also bound the expansion times for which the phase drop can be accurately determined and study the effect of inter-atomic interactions on the expansion time scales. Third, I study the dynamics of few-mode BECs when they become dynamically unstable after preparing an initial state at a saddle point of the Hamiltonian. I study the dynamics within the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) and find that, due to phase-space mixing, the expectation value of an observable relaxes to a steady-state value. Using the action-angle formalism, we derive analytical expressions for the steady-state value and the time evolution towards this value. I apply these general results to two systems: a condensate in a double-well potential and a spin-1 (spinor) condensate. Finally, I study quantum corrections beyond the TWA in the semiclassical limit. I derive general expressions for the dynamics of an observable by using the van Vleck-Gutzwiller propagator and find that the interference of classical paths leads to non-perturbative corrections. As a case study, I consider a single-mode nonlinear oscillator; this system displays collapse and revival of observables. I find that the interference of classical paths, which is absent in the TWA, leads to revivals.
Time-periodic driving facilitates a wealth of novel quantum states and quantum engineering. The interplay of Floquet states and strong interactions is particularly intriguing, which we study using time-periodic fields in a one-dimensional quantum gas, modeled by a Luttinger liquid with periodically changing interactions. By developing a time-periodic operator algebra, we are able to solve and analyze the complete set of nonequilibrium steady states in terms of a Floquet-Bogoliubov ansatz and known analytic functions. Complex valued Floquet eigenenergies occur when integer multiples of the driving frequency approximately match twice the dispersion energy, which correspond to resonant states. In experimental systems of Lieb-Liniger bosons we predict a change from power-law correlations to dominant collective density wave excitations at the corresponding wave numbers as the frequency is lowered below a characteristic cutoff.