We exploit the variational and Hamiltonian structures of quantum hydrodynamics with spin to unfold the correlation and torque mechanisms accompanying spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in electronic motion. Using Hamilton's action principle for the Pauli equation, we isolate SOC-induced quantum forces that act on the orbital Madelung--Bohm trajectories and complement the usual force terms known to appear in quantum hydrodynamics with spin. While the latter spin-hydrodynamic forces relate to the quantum geometric tensor (QGT), SOC-induced orbital forces originate from a particular current operator that contributes prominently to the spin current. This distinction between force terms reveals two fundamentally different mechanisms generating quantum spin-orbit correlations. Leveraging the Hamiltonian structure of the hydrodynamic system, we also elucidate spin transport features such as the correlation-induced quantum torques and the current shift in the spin Hall effect. This Hall shift leads to a new definition of the transport spin current thereby addressing an open question in spintronics. Finally, we illustrate the framework via the Madelung--Rashba equations for planar SOC configurations and propose a particle-based scheme for numerical implementation.
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Second version. Improved discussion of the results. Comments welcome
We exploit the variational and Hamiltonian structures of quantum hydrodynamics with spin to unfold the correlation and torque mechanisms accompanying spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in electronic motion. Using Hamilton's action principle for the Pauli equation, we isolate SOC-induced quantum forces that act on the orbital Madelung--Bohm trajectories and complement the usual force terms known to appear in quantum hydrodynamics with spin. While the latter spin-hydrodynamic forces relate to the quantum geometric tensor (QGT), SOC-induced orbital forces originate from a particular current operator that contributes prominently to the spin current. This distinction between force terms reveals two fundamentally different mechanisms generating quantum spin-orbit correlations. Leveraging the Hamiltonian structure of the hydrodynamic system, we also elucidate spin transport features such as the correlation-induced quantum torques and the current shift in the spin Hall effect. This Hall shift leads to a new definition of the transport spin current thereby addressing an open question in spintronics. Finally, we illustrate the framework via the Madelung--Rashba equations for planar SOC configurations and propose a particle-based scheme for numerical implementation.
In the last years, the electron spin in quantum dots has become a most promising candidate for the realization of qubits, the basic element for quantum computation. In quantum dot spin qubits the exchange interaction implements a fundamental two qubit gate, which originates in the Coulomb interaction and the Pauli principle. Compared to single qubit gates, the exchange based gates are much faster and easier to control locally, motivating the solely exchange energy based quantum computation. The control is based on the exponential sensitivity of the exchange energy on the interparticle distance. Manipulation then can proceed, for example, shifting the single particle states electrically or compressing them magnetically. The practical manipulation schemes require quantitative knowledge of the exchange energy. The spin-orbit interaction plays an important role in this nano-system. Indeed the usual exchange interaction changes its magnitude, while a new term, called anisotropic exchange, appears. In this thesis we propose an accurate effective spin Hamiltonian for modeling spin-orbit-induced spin dynamics in the presence of the magnetic field. We have also performed numerically exact calculations of the isotropic and anisotropic exchange coupling in realistic two-electron GaAs coupled quantum dots in the presence of both Dresselhaus and Bychkov-Rashba spin-orbit interactions. The numerics allow us to establish the goodness of our model and to see the limits of previous statements. Furthermore we find that in zero magnetic field the second-order spin-orbit effects are absent at all interdot couplings.
Understanding the effects of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and many-body interactions on spin transport is important in condensed matter physics and spintronics. This topic has been intensively studied for spin carriers such as electrons but barely explored for charge-neutral bosonic quasiparticles (including their condensates), which hold promises for coherent spin transport over macroscopic distances. Here, we explore the effects of synthetic SOC (induced by optical Raman coupling) and atomic interactions on the spin transport in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), where the spin-dipole mode (SDM, actuated by quenching the Raman coupling) of two interacting spin components constitutes an alternating spin current. We experimentally observe that SOC significantly enhances the SDM damping while reducing the thermalization (the reduction of the condensate fraction). We also observe generation of BEC collective excitations such as shape oscillations. Our theory reveals that the SOC-modified interference, immiscibility, and interaction between the spin components can play crucial roles in spin transport.
Mixed quantum-classical models are widely used to reduce the computational cost of fully quantum simulations. However, their general applicability across different classes of problems remains an open question. Here, we address this issue for systems featuring spin-orbit coupling. In particular, we study the interaction dynamics of quantum spin-1/2 and classical orbital momentum in one-dimensional models of Rashba nanowires. We tackle this problem by resorting to a new quantum-classical Hamiltonian model that, unlike conventional approaches, retains the Heisenberg principle and captures correlation effects beyond the common Ehrenfest method. Based on Koopman wavefunctions in classical mechanics, the new model was recently implemented numerically via a particle scheme -- the koopmon method -- which is extended here to treat spin-orbit coupling. We apply the koopmon method to study the quantum-classical dynamics of nanowire models, with and without the presence of a harmonic potential and in both Rashba-dominated (strong coupling) and Zeeman-dominated (weak coupling) regimes. Considering realistic semiconductor parameters, the results are contrasted with both fully quantum and quantum-classical Ehrenfest dynamics. In the absence of external potential, the koopmon method qualitatively reproduces the features of the fully quantum evolution for all coupling regimes. While it exhibits a slight loss in spin accuracy compared to Ehrenfest simulations, the latter fail to capture the orbital dynamics. In the presence of a harmonic potential, the koopmon scheme reproduces several features of full quantum dynamics with accuracy levels that are unachievable by the Ehrenfest model. We conclude by presenting a test case that exhibits the formation of cat-like states.
Spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which is inherent in a Dirac particle that moves under the influence of electromagnetic fields, manifests itself in a variety of physical systems, including nonrelativistic ones. For instance, it plays an essential role in spintronics developed in the past few decades, particularly by controlling spin current generation and relaxation. In the present work, by using an extended Caldeira-Leggett model, we elucidate how the interplay between spin relaxation and momentum dissipation of an open system of a single spin-21 particle with Rashba-type SOC is induced by the interactions with a spinless, three-dimensional environment. Staring from the path-integral formulation for the reduced density matrix of the system, we have derived a set of coupled nonlinear equations that consists of a quasiclassical Langevin equation for the momentum with a frictional term and a spin precession equation. The spin precesses around the effective magnetic field generated by both the SOC and the frictional term. It is found from analytical and numerical solutions to these equations that a spin torque effect included in the effective magnetic field causes a spin relaxation and that the spin and momentum orientations after a long time evolution are largely controlled by the Rashba coupling strength. Such a spin relaxation mechanism is qualitatively different from, e.g., the one encountered in semiconductors in which essentially no momentum dissipation occurs due to the Pauli blocking.
The dissertation explores the effects of synthetic spin-orbit coupling on the behaviour of quantum gases in several different contexts. We first study realistic methods to create vortices in spin-orbit-coupled (SOC) Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). We propose two different methods to induce thermodynamically stable static vortex configurations: (1) to rotate both the Raman lasers and the anisotropic trap; and (2) to impose a synthetic Abelian field on top of synthetic spin-orbit interactions. We solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for several experimentally relevant regimes and find new interesting effects such as spatial separation of left- and right-moving spin-orbit-coupled condensates, and the appearance of unusual vortex arrangements. Next we consider cold atoms in an optical lattice with synthetic SOC in the Mott-insulator regime. We calculate the parameters of the corresponding tight-binding model and derive the low-energy spin Hamiltonian which is a combination of Heisenberg model, quantum compass model and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. We find that the Hamiltonian supports a rich classical phase diagram with collinear, spiral and vortex phases. Next we study the time evolution of the magnetization in a Rashba spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gas, starting from a fully-polarized initial state. We model the dynamics using a Boltzmann equation, which we solve in the Hartree-Fock approximation. The resulting non-linear system of equations gives rise to three distinct dynamical regimes controlled by the ratio of interaction and spin-orbit-coupling strength λ: for small λ, the magnetization decays to zero. For intermediate λ, it displays undamped oscillations about zero and for large λ, a partially magnetized state is dynamically stabilized. Motivated by an interesting stripe phase which appears in BEC with SOC [Li et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 225301 (2011)], we study the finite-temperature phase diagram of a pseudospin-1/2 Bose gas with contact interactions. We show that strong inter-spin interactions can lead to the appearance of magnetically ordered phases at temperatures above the superfluid transition. For the case of inter-spin attraction, we also discuss the possibility of a bosonic analogue of the Cooper-paired phase, however this state is not energetically favourable. We extend our calculations to a spin-orbit-coupled Bose gas to investigate the possibility of stripe ordering in the normal phase. However, within our approximations, we do not find an instability towards stripe formation. Finally, we consider a two-dimensional Bose gas at zero temperature with an underlying quartic single-particle dispersion in one spatial direction. This Hamiltonian can be realized using the NIST scheme of spin-orbit coupling [Y.-J. Lin, K. Jimenez-Garcia, and I. B. Spielman, Nature 471, 83 (2011)], or using the shaken lattice scheme of Parker et al. [C. V. Parker, L.-C. Ha and C. Chin, Nature Physics 9, 769 (2013)]. By numerically comparing energies of various trial wave-functions, we show that, at low densities, the ground state is strongly correlated, in contrast to a typical mean-field BEC. The trial wave-function with the lowest energy is of Jastrow-type and it describes a state with finite, but strongly reduced, condensate fraction.
Abstract Understanding the effects of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and many-body interactions on spin transport is important in condensed matter physics and spintronics. This topic has been intensively studied for spin carriers such as electrons but barely explored for charge-neutral bosonic quasiparticles (including their condensates), which hold promises for coherent spin transport over macroscopic distances. Here, we explore the effects of synthetic SOC (induced by optical Raman coupling) and atomic interactions on the spin transport in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), where the spin-dipole mode (SDM, actuated by quenching the Raman coupling) of two interacting spin components constitutes an alternating spin current. We experimentally observe that SOC significantly enhances the SDM damping while reducing the thermalization (the reduction of the condensate fraction). We also observe generation of BEC collective excitations such as shape oscillations. Our theory reveals that the SOC-modified interference, immiscibility, and interaction between the spin components can play crucial roles in spin transport.