Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates are a flexible experimental platform to engineer synthetic quantum many-body systems. In particular, they host the so-called stripe phase, an instance of a supersolid state of matter. The peculiar excitation spectrum of the stripe phase, a definite footprint of its supersolidity, has been difficult to measure experimentally. In this work, we performed in situ imaging of the stripes and directly observed both superfluid and crystal excitations. We investigated superfluid hydrodynamics and revealed a stripe compression mode, thus demonstrating that the system possesses a compressible crystalline structure. Through the frequency softening of this mode, we located the supersolid transition point. Our results establish spin-orbit-coupled supersolids as ideal systems to investigate supersolidity and its rich dynamics.
Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates are a flexible experimental platform to engineer synthetic quantum many-body systems. In particular, they host the so-called stripe phase, an instance of a supersolid state of matter. The peculiar excitation spectrum of the stripe phase, a definite footprint of its supersolidity, has been difficult to measure experimentally. In this work, we performed in situ imaging of the stripes and directly observed both superfluid and crystal excitations. We investigated superfluid hydrodynamics and revealed a stripe compression mode, thus demonstrating that the system possesses a compressible crystalline structure. Through the frequency softening of this mode, we located the supersolid transition point. Our results establish spin-orbit-coupled supersolids as ideal systems to investigate supersolidity and its rich dynamics.
The phase diagram of a Bose-Einstein condensate with Raman-induced spin-orbit coupling includes a stripe phase with supersolid features. In this work we develop a perturbation approach to study the ground state and the Bogoliubov modes of this phase, holding for small values of the Raman coupling. We obtain analytical predictions for the most relevant observables (including the periodicity of stripes, sound velocities, compressibility, and magnetic susceptibility) which are in excellent agreement with the exact (non perturbative) numerical results, obtained for significantly large values of the coupling. We further unveil the nature of the two gapless Bogoliubov modes in the long-wavelength limit. We find that the spin branch of the spectrum, corresponding in this limit to the dynamics of the relative phase between the two spin components, describes a translation of the fringes of the equilibrium density profile, thereby providing the crystal Goldstone mode typical of a supersolid configuration. Finally, using sum-rule arguments, we show that the superfluid density can be experimentally accessed by measuring the ratio of the sound velocities parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the spin-orbit coupling.
The phase diagram of a Bose-Einstein condensate with Raman-induced spin-orbit coupling includes a stripe phase with supersolid features. In this work we develop a perturbation approach to study the ground state and the Bogoliubov modes of this phase, holding for small values of the Raman coupling. We obtain analytical predictions for the most relevant observables (including the periodicity of stripes, sound velocities, compressibility, and magnetic susceptibility) which are in excellent agreement with the exact (non perturbative) numerical results, obtained for significantly large values of the coupling. We further unveil the nature of the two gapless Bogoliubov modes in the long-wavelength limit. We find that the spin branch of the spectrum, corresponding in this limit to the dynamics of the relative phase between the two spin components, describes a translation of the fringes of the equilibrium density profile, thereby providing the crystal Goldstone mode typical of a supersolid configuration. Finally, using sum-rule arguments, we show that the superfluid density can be experimentally accessed by measuring the ratio of the sound velocities parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the spin-orbit coupling.
The recent realization of synthetic spin-orbit coupling represents an outstanding achievement in the physics of ultracold quantum gases. In this review we explore the properties of a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate with equal Rashba and Dresselhaus strengths. This system presents a rich phase diagram, which exhibits a tricritical point separating a zero-momentum phase, a spin-polarized plane-wave phase, and a stripe phase. In the stripe phase translational invariance is spontaneously broken, in analogy with supersolids. Spin-orbit coupling also strongly affects the dynamics of the system. In particular, the excitation spectrum exhibits intriguing features, including the suppression of the sound velocity, the emergence of a roton minimum in the plane-wave phase, and the appearance of a double gapless band structure in the stripe phase. Finally, we discuss a combined procedure to make the stripes visible and stable, thus allowing for a direct experimental detection.
Despite ground-breaking observations of supersolidity in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, until now the dynamics of the emerging spatially periodic density modulations has been vastly unexplored. Here, we demonstrate the nonrigidity of the density stripes in such a supersolid condensate and explore their dynamic behavior subject to spin perturbations. We show both analytically in infinite systems and numerically in the presence of a harmonic trap how spin waves affect the supersolid's density profile in the form of crystal waves, inducing oscillations of the periodicity as well as the orientation of the fringes. Both these features are well within reach of present-day experiments. Our results show that this system is a paradigmatic supersolid, featuring superfluidity in conjunction with a fully dynamic crystalline structure.
The recent realization of synthetic spin-orbit coupling represents an outstanding achievement in the physics of ultracold quantum gases. In this thesis we explore the properties of spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates with equal Rashba and Dresselhaus strengths. These systems present a rich phase diagram, which exhibits a tricritical point separating a single-minimum phase, a spin-polarized plane-wave phase, and a stripe phase. In the stripe phase translational invariance is spontaneously broken, in analogy with supersolids. Spin-orbit coupling also strongly affects the dynamics of the system. In particular, the excitation spectrum exhibits intriguing features, including the suppression of the sound velocity, the emergence of a roton minimum in the plane-wave phase, and the appearance of a double gapless band structure in the stripe phase. Finally, we discuss a combined procedure to make the stripes visible and stable, thus allowing for a direct experimental detection.
Supersolidity, characterized by superfluidity and crystallization, is an exotic state of matter. The spin-orbit- (SO-) coupled Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) provide an ideal paradigm for exploring this quantum state. Here, we present a theoretical analysis of the ground-state phases and collective modes of supersolid SO-coupled BECs in a harmonic trap. The phase diagram of three ground-state phases (i.e., the supersolid phase, plane-wave phase, and zero-momentum phase) is obtained analytically under the condition $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\ll}{k}_{0}$ (here, $\ensuremath{\omega}$ is harmonic trap frequency, k0 is SO-coupling strength), showing the spin polarization, the phase diagram, and the contrast of the supersolid stripes can be effectively manipulated by trapping potential. An efficient scheme to manipulate the supersolid phase is provided. Furthermore, with particular discussion of the supersolid phase, the collective modes in all three phases are obtained with a unified approach, and softening of both dipole and breathing modes with divergence of effective mass at phase transition point is explained analytically and well confirmed by direct numerical simulations. The impact of SO coupling on local currents during the breathing mode is discussed. The anharmonic collective modes are also revealed with the appearance of the flat band in the single-particle dispersion, especially when SO-coupling strength is comparable with trapping potential. Our theoretical method provides a clear physical picture that collective modes of SO-coupled BECs can be regarded as classical harmonic oscillators with an effective mass containing the SO coupling.