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arXiv:2510.21211 · Physical Review Research

Unveiling the Bose-Einstein condensate-droplet crossover with Rayleigh superradiant scattering

Mithilesh K. Parit, Mingchen Huang, Ziting Chen, Yifei He, Haoting Zhen, Gyu-Boong Jo

Published Oct 10, 2026• 0 citations

Abstract

Light scattering plays an essential role in uncovering the properties of quantum states through light-matter interactions. Here, we explore the crossover from Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) to droplets in a dipolar Er 166 gas by employing superradiant light scattering as both a probing and controlling tool. We observe that the efficiency of superradiant scattering exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior akin to the rate of sample expansion during the transition, signaling its sensitivity to the initial quantum state, and in turn revealing the BEC-droplet crossover. Through controlled atom depletion via superradiance, we analyze the sample's expansion dynamics and aspect ratio to identify the BEC-droplet phases distinctly, supported by Gaussian variational ansatz calculations. Finally, using these two approaches, we track how the BEC-droplet crossover points shift under varying magnetic field orientations. Our results show that superradiance can provide a state-sensitive probe and implement rapid atom-number quenches, opening new avenues for studying quantum states in atomic matter.

DOI: 10.1103/j662-tz3j

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Light scattering plays an essential role in uncovering the properties of quantum states through light-matter interactions. Here, we explore the crossover from Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) to droplets in a dipolar Er 166 gas by employing superradiant light scattering as both a probing and controlling tool. We observe that the efficiency of superradiant scattering exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior akin to the rate of sample expansion during the transition, signaling its sensitivity to the initial quantum state, and in turn revealing the BEC-droplet crossover. Through controlled atom depletion via superradiance, we analyze the sample's expansion dynamics and aspect ratio to identify the BEC-droplet phases distinctly, supported by Gaussian variational ansatz calculations. Finally, using these two approaches, we track how the BEC-droplet crossover points shift under varying magnetic field orientations. Our results show that superradiance can provide a state-sensitive probe and implement rapid atom-number quenches, opening new avenues for studying quantum states in atomic matter.

Superradiance is the coherent spontaneous emission from a many-body system, owing to its origin in the simultaneous cooperative interaction among its constituents, initially predicted by R. H. Dicke in 1954. It has been a subject of intense study in various systems, especially in atomic systems. In this poster, we will present our recent observation on superradiant light scattering in a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of Er atoms [1]. We systematically investigate how s-wave and dipolar interactions affect superradiant light scattering. Our finding opens a new way of characterizing many-body quantum states with light scattering. As an example, we examine the collective light scatter across the phase transition from a dipolar BEC to a quantum droplet.

Collective light scattering in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) has been extensively studied by using its unique coherence property. However, most experiments have explored superradiant light scattering with closed-shell atoms (e.g. alkali and alkaline-earth-like atoms) in the regime where only s-wave interactions are present. Here, we experimentally combine tunable s-wave scattering with dipolar interactions in a BEC of Er atoms. By tuning s-wave interaction strength through the Feshbach resonance, we tune the superradiance threshold with increasing phase fluctuations. We also observe an asymmetric superradiant scattering in a dipolar BEC by changing the direction of the external magnetic field. This collective light scattering opens a new way of probing dipolar quantum liquids in a BEC.

Due to its coherence properties and high optical depth, a Bose–Einstein condensate [BEC] provides an ideal setting to investigate collective atom-light interactions. Superradiant light scattering [SLS] in a BEC is a fascinating example of such an interaction. It is an analogous process to Dicke superradiance, in which an electronically inverted sample decays collectively, leading to the emission of one or more light pulses in a well-defined direction. Through time-resolved measurements of the superradiant light pulses emitted by an end-pumped BEC, we study the close connection of SLS with Dicke superradiance. A 1D model of the system yields good agreement with the experimental data and shows that the dynamics result from the structures that build up in the light and matter-wave fields along the BEC. This paves the way for exploiting the atom–photon correlations generated by the superradiance.

In a recent MIT experiment, a new form of superradiant Rayleigh scattering was observed in Bose-Einstein condensates. We present a detailed theory of this phenomenon in which condensate depletion leads to mode competition, which, together with the directional dependence of the scattering rate, is ultimately responsible for the observed phenomena. The nonlinear response of the system is shown to be highly sensitive to initial quantum fluctuations which cause large run to run variations in the observed superradiant pulses.

We investigate the quench dynamics of quasi-one- and two-dimensional dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates of

^{164}\mathrm{Dy}

atoms under the influence of a fast rotating magnetic field. The magnetic field thus controls both the magnitude and sign of the dipolar potential. We account for quantum fluctuations, critical to formation of exotic quantum droplet and supersolid phases in the extended Gross-Pitaevskii formalism, which includes the so-called Lee-Huang-Yang correction. An analytical variational ansatz allows us to obtain the phase diagrams of the superfluid and droplet phases. The crossover from the superfluid to the supersolid phase and to single and droplet arrays is probed with particle number and dipolar interaction. The dipolar strength is tuned by rotating the magnetic field with subsequent effects on phase boundaries. Following interaction quenches across the aforementioned phases, we monitor the dynamical formation of supersolid clusters or droplet lattices. We include losses due to three-body recombination over the crossover regime, where the three-body recombination rate coefficient scales with the fourth power of the scattering length

({a}_{s})

or the dipole length

({a}_{dd})

. For fixed values of the dimensionless parameter, ${\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{dd}={a}_{dd}/{a}_{s}$, tuning the dipolar anisotropy leads to an enhancement of the droplet lifetimes.

We investigate experimentally the effects of light assisted collisions on the coherence between momentum states in Bose-Einstein condensates. The onset of superradiant Rayleigh scattering serves as a sensitive monitor for matter-wave coherence. A subtle interplay of binary and collective effects leads to a profound asymmetry between the two sides of the atomic resonance and provides far bigger coherence loss rates for a condensate bathed in blue detuned light than previously estimated. We present a simplified quantitative model containing the essential physics to explain our experimental data and point at a new experimental route to study strongly coupled light matter systems.