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arXiv:2503.10563

Controlling the dynamical phase diagram of a spinor BEC using time-dependent potentials

Qingze Guan, D. Blume, Robert J. Lewis-Swan

Published Mar 13, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

We theoretically investigate the spin-mixing dynamics of a spinor BEC subject to a time-dependent confining potential. Our study provides a theory framework for the experimental results reported in Phys. Rev. A 109, 043309 (2024). We exploit the disparity of energy scales associated with the spatial and internal (spin) degrees of freedom under typical experimental conditions to develop an effective few-mode description of the spin dynamics. Our model demonstrates how the details of the potential, such as driving frequency and amplitude, can be used to independently control spin-changing and spin-preserving collision processes as well as the effective Zeeman energy of the internal states. We obtain the dynamical phase diagram of the effective model and discuss how its structure is altered relative to a spinor BEC with frozen spatial degrees of freedom. The applicability of our effective model is verified through Gross-Pitaevskii simulations that capture the interplay of spin and spatial degrees of freedom, and we identify parameter regimes that can be feasibly explored by future experiments. Our findings highlight the utility of dynamical confining potentials for the control of non-equilibrium spin-mixing dynamics in spinor BECs.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2503.10563

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We theoretically investigate the spin-mixing dynamics of a spinor BEC subject to a time-dependent confining potential. Our study provides a theory framework for the experimental results reported in Phys. Rev. A 109, 043309 (2024). We exploit the disparity of energy scales associated with the spatial and internal (spin) degrees of freedom under typical experimental conditions to develop an effective few-mode description of the spin dynamics. Our model demonstrates how the details of the potential, such as driving frequency and amplitude, can be used to independently control spin-changing and spin-preserving collision processes as well as the effective Zeeman energy of the internal states. We obtain the dynamical phase diagram of the effective model and discuss how its structure is altered relative to a spinor BEC with frozen spatial degrees of freedom. The applicability of our effective model is verified through Gross-Pitaevskii simulations that capture the interplay of spin and spatial degrees of freedom, and we identify parameter regimes that can be feasibly explored by future experiments. Our findings highlight the utility of dynamical confining potentials for the control of non-equilibrium spin-mixing dynamics in spinor BECs.
We present an analytical model for the theoretical analysis of spin dynamics and spontaneous symmetry breaking in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). This allows for an excellent intuitive understanding of the processes and provides good quantitative agreement with the experimental results of Scherer et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 135302 (2010)]. It is shown that the dynamics of a spinor BEC initially prepared in an unstable Zeeman state mF=0{m}_{F}=0mF​=0 ($\left|0\right\ensuremath{\rangle}$) can be understood by approximating the effective trapping potential for the state $\left|\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1\right\ensuremath{\rangle}$ with a cylindrical box potential. The resonances in the creation efficiency of these atom pairs can be traced back to excitation modes of this confinement. The understanding of these excitation modes allows for a detailed characterization of the symmetry-breaking mechanism, showing how a twofold spontaneous breaking of spatial and spin symmetry can occur. In addition, a detailed account of the experimental methods for the preparation and analysis of spinor quantum gases is given.
We develop a coupled-channel framework to describe the dynamics of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), with particular emphasis on the behavior near resonances between spin dynamics and spatial excitations. Taking advantage of the disparity between the spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering lengths in typical spinor BECs, the Bogoliubov modes of the spin-independent part of the full system Hamiltonian provide an efficient set of basis functions for describing the system dynamics in a coupled-channel framework. For quadratic Zeeman shifts far from any resonance, the system can be described by a single spatial wavefunction during the spin dynamics, i.e., the so-called single-mode approximation holds. By tuning the quadratic Zeeman shift, we find resonant excitations of the Bogoliubov modes, which can be classified into two categories: those with particle-hole correlations and those without particle-hole correlations. We show that the beyond-quadratic-order terms that are neglected in standard Bogoliubov theories become increasingly important for capturing the long-time dynamics of the system near resonances. The coupled-channel framework is benchmarked against results from 1D Gross-Pitaevskii equation simulations. The framework developed in this work not only provides a numerically efficient tool for describing spinor BEC dynamics governed by different length scales, but also provides a clean physical interpretation of resonance phenomena in spinor BECs. Applications of this approach to other systems and extensions to the beyond-mean-field regime are also discussed.
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Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is a phenomenon in which identical bosons occupy the same quantum state below a certain critical temperature. A hallmark of BEC is the coherence between particles every particle shares the same quantum wavefunction and phase. This coherence has been demonstrated for the external (motional) degrees of freedom of the atomic condensates by interfering two condensates. In this thesis, the coherence is shown to extend to the internal spin degrees of freedom of a spin-1 Bose gas evidenced by the observed coherent and reversible spin-changing collisions. The observed coherent dynamics are analogous to Josephson oscillations in weakly connected superconductors and represent a type of matter-wave four-wave mixing. Control of the coherent evolution of the system using magnetic fields is also demonstrated. The studies on spinor condensates begin by creating spinor condensates directly using all-optical approaches that were first developed in our laboratory. All-optical formation of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in 1D optical lattice and single focus trap geometries are developed and presented. These techniques offer considerable flexibility and speed compared to magnetic trap approaches, and the trapping potential can be essentially spin-independent and are ideally suited for studying spinor condensates. Using condensates with well-defined initial non-equilibrium spin configuration, spin mixing of F = 1 and F = 2 spinor condensates of rubidium-87 atoms confined in an optical trap is observed. The equilibrium spin configuration in the F = 1 manifold confirms that 87Rb is ferromagnetic. The coherent spinor dynamics are demonstrated by initiating spin mixing deterministically with a non-stationary spin population configuration. Finally, the interplay between the coherent spin mixing and spatial dynamics in spin-1 condensates with ferromagnetic interactions is investigated.
A Bose Einstein Condensate (BEC) is an extraordinarily versatile state of matterthat allows for the simulation of quantum phenomena on the macroscopic scale. This powerful platform features rich physics such as superfluidity, quantum phase coherence, long range order, and spontaneous symmetry breaking. A spinor BEC, or a BEC with a spin degree of freedom, in particular is highly controllable as a quantum simulator, especially under the application of customizable optical lattices. In this thesis I present a study of spinor BECs in moving optical lattices. The results of this thesis open the way for the exploitation of not only quantum based properties of a BEC, but also the classical spatial dynamics inherit to the system for simulating many-body quantum spin dynamics with highly tunable, time-dependent interactions.
The isolation and control of disparate degrees of freedom underpins quantum simulators. We advance the programmability of cold atom quantum simulators with a realization of the dynamic coupling of spatial and spin degrees of freedom. We experimentally demonstrate that violent spatial evolutions tune long-lived coherent spin dynamics and develop a model of quantum spin mixing incorporating the spatial evolution via time-dependent spin-spin interactions. Our results may open new paths towards the simulation of quantum spin models with tunable interactions via tailored spatial dynamics.