arXiv:2205.07732 · Physical Review A
Light-shift-induced behaviors observed in momentum-space quantum walks
Nikolai Bolik, Caspar Groiseau, Jerry H. Clark, Alexander Gresch, Siamak Dadras, Gil S. Summy, Yingmei Liu, Sandro Wimberger
Abstract
Over the last decade there have been many advances in studies of quantum walks (QWs) including a momentum-space QW recently realized in our spinor Bose-Einstein condensate system. This QW possessed behaviors that generally agreed with theoretical predictions; however, it also showed momentum distributions that were not adequately explained by the theory. We present a theoretical model which proves that the coherent dynamics of the spinor condensate is sufficient to explain the experimental data without invoking the presence of a thermal cloud of atoms as in the original theory. Our numerical findings are supported by an analytical prediction for the momentum distributions in the limit of zero-temperature condensates. This current model provides more complete explanations to the momentum-space QWs that can be applied to study quantum search algorithms and topological phases in Floquet-driven systems.