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Simulating ultracold matter: horizons and slow light

Conor Farrell

Published Jun 19, 2008• 2 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This thesis explores the links between different ways of modelling the physical world. Finite difference numerical simulations may be used to encode the be-haviour of physical systems, allowing us to gain insight into their workings and even to predict their behaviour. Similarly, one can investigate the properties of gravitational black holes through the use of analogue black holes, physical systems which share at least some part of the physics of the astronomical objects. Con-centrating on black hole analogues using Bose-Einstein condensates, I show how simulations of these systems may be greatly assisted through the use of a proper absorbing boundary condition, the Perfectly Matched Layer. Such a boundary condition allows the efficient truncation of the computational domain, both sav-ing computational time and increasing accuracy. I then apply this technique to the simulation of the supersonic flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate through a Laval nozzle, a black hole analogue, showing that such a flow should be stable and observable in the laboratory. Moving to a related system, I investigate the optical

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We study an experimentally realizable system containing stable black hole--white hole acoustic horizons in toroidally trapped Bose-Einstein condensates---the quantum de Laval nozzle. We numerically obtain stationary flow configurations and assess their stability using Bogoliubov theory, finding both in hydrodynamic and nonhydrodynamic regimes there exist dynamically unstable regions associated with the creation of positive and negative energy quasiparticle pairs in analogy with the gravitational Hawking effect. The dynamical instability takes the form of a two mode squeezing interaction between resonant pairs of Bogoliubov modes. We study the evolution of dynamically unstable flows using the truncated Wigner method, which confirms the two mode squeezed state picture of the analogue Hawking effect for low winding number.

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This thesis explores the links between different ways of modelling the physical world. Finite difference numerical simulations may be used to encode the be-haviour of physical systems, allowing us to gain insight into their workings and even to predict their behaviour. Similarly, one can investigate the properties of gravitational black holes through the use of analogue black holes, physical systems which share at least some part of the physics of the astronomical objects. Con-centrating on black hole analogues using Bose-Einstein condensates, I show how simulations of these systems may be greatly assisted through the use of a proper absorbing boundary condition, the Perfectly Matched Layer. Such a boundary condition allows the efficient truncation of the computational domain, both sav-ing computational time and increasing accuracy. I then apply this technique to the simulation of the supersonic flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate through a Laval nozzle, a black hole analogue, showing that such a flow should be stable and observable in the laboratory. Moving to a related system, I investigate the optical
In this thesis we consider the application of phase-space methods to Bose-Einstein condensates; the work comprises of three main parts: Part I: A phase-space method for the Bose-Hubbard model; Part II: An analogue model of an expanding universe in Bose-Einstein condensates. and Part III: An analogue model of an acoustic Black Hole in Bose-Einstein condensates. In part I we present a phase-space method for the Bose-Hubbard model based on the Qfunction representation. In particular, we consider two model Hamiltonians in the mean-field approximation; the first is the standard “one site” model where quantum tunneling is approximated entirely using mean-field terms; the second “two site” model explicitly includes tunneling between two adjacent sites while treating tunneling with other neighbouring sites using the meanfield approximation. The ground state is determined by minimising the classical energy functional subject to quantum mechanical constraints, which take the form of uncertainty relations. For each model Hamiltonian we compare the ground state results from the Q-function method with the exact numerical solution. The results from the Q-function method, which are easy to compute, give a good qualitative description of the main features of the Bose-Hubbard model including the superfluid to Mott insulator. We find the quantum mechanical constraints dominate the problem and show there are some limitations of the method particularly in the weak lattice regime. Analogue models of gravity have been motivated by the possibility of investigating phenomena not readily accessible in their cosmological counterparts. In particular, the prediction of quasiparticle creation in ultra-cold Bose gases in specific configurations can be viewed as an analogue to either cosmological particle creation or the Hawking effect. In part II of this thesis we investigate the analogue of cosmological particle creation in an expanding universe by numerically simulating a Bose-Einstein condensate with a time-dependent scattering length. In particular, we simulate a 2D homogeneous condensate using the classical field method via the truncated Wigner approximation. We show that for several different expansion scenarios the calculated particle production is consistent with the underlying theory. For inflationary models we find the particle production for long wavelength modes coincides with the analytic theory within the acoustic approximation, whereas the particle production is suppressed for short wavelength (ie. free-particle like) modes. Moreover, particle production is enhanced for faster expansions, approaching the analytic result for the sudden expansion in the limit of a very fast expansion. For the case of a cyclic expansion, particle production peaks for a mode frequency that is approximately half of the driving frequency as expected for parametric resonance. In part III of this thesis we investigate an acoustic black hole in a Bose-Einstein condensate, formed by two de Laval nozzles in a ring configuration — a system we refer to as the quantum de Laval nozzle. Our model is formulated in one dimension with a sinusoidal potential. For nonzero superfluid flow, this system can exhibit stable transonic flow with both black and white hole sonic horizons. Stationary states are found by solving the time-independent Gross-Pitaevskii equation subject to a phase quantisation constraint. By solving the projected Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for the system, we also find the discrete spectrum and quasiparticle modes. There are dynamical instabilities for certain values of winding number and potential depth, for which it is possible to construct pairs of normalisable modes. We further investigate the dynamics of the system using a classical field method based on the truncated Wigner approximation. For a low winding number and unstable configuration, we find exponential growth for the pair of unstable modes, whereas there is no growth in these modes for a stable configuration. This can be interpreted as non-degenerate parametric amplification, valid for short times. In contrast, for a large winding number, there is significant growth in modes for both stable and unstable configurations. This is indicative of higher order processes neglected in the quasiparticle picture, which is further reinforced by that fact that large winding number solutions require large nonlinearities. Finally, we consider the connection of our results with the usual semi-classical prediction of the Hawking effect. For an unstable configuration, the normalised unstable modes couple equal and opposite real frequencies, so that the growth in these modes represents the closest analogy with the Hawking effect for our quantum system.
We focus on investigating the many-body physics of Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms and light. The many-body phenomena that we discuss in this thesis contains two different cases. The first case is the space-time crystal in a Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms. We show the observation of a space-time crystal using ultra-cold atoms, where the periodic structure in both space and time are directly visible in the experimental images. The underlying physics in our superfluid can be described ab initio and allows for a clear identification of the mechanism that causes the spontaneous symmetry breaking. Our results pave the way for the usage of space-time crystals for the discovery of novel nonequilibrium phases of matter. Moreover, we investigate the formation of the space-time. We theoretically model this space-time crystal that contains the high-order axial mode driving by the radial breathing mode. Furthermore, we provide the comparisons of the theoretical prediction, the experiment and the numerical simulation for the mode function, the flux and then the mode frequency. We obtain accurate agreements between the experiment, the numerical simulation and our theoretical prediction. The other case is the analogue Schwarzschild black hole in condensates of light. By etching a hole in the mirrors or by placing a scatterer in the center of a cavity, we can create a sink for light. In a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons this sink results in the creation of a so-called radial vortex, which is a two-dimensional analogue of a Schwarzschild black hole. We theoretically investigate the Hawking radiation and the associated greybody factor of this Schwarzschild black hole. In particular, we determine the density-density and velocity-velocity correlation functions of the Hawking radiation, which can be measured by observing the spatial correlations in the fluctuations in the light emitted by the cavity.
Research on Bose Einstein condensates has over the past few years developed into an interesting field of physics. Current research aims for the creation of working quantum simulators which may be able to help explain and understand condensed matter physics phenomena which as yet cannot be explained. The research leading up to the experiment outlined in this thesis is intended to contribute to the understanding of these phenomena particularly that of 2D quantum systems. In the course of this thesis trapping and manipulation schemes for dipole traps and optical lattices will be introduced. Numerical simulations have been conducted to assess the dependency of parameters leading to a stable, optimised dipole trap. The design of an aspherical dipole trap was used, set up and characterised. Numerical simulations of maximally localized Wannier functions were carried out to obtain and understand the interactions in optical lattices and to postulate further parameters for the experiment. A fast and stable computer control was devised using the latest field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) technology. The robustness and versatility of this technology was proved by adapting the software to suit different hardware and using the control in four different experiments. The electronic systems for the hardware used have been developed to yield a timing of 25ns for the digital channels and 1μs for the analogue channels.
Acoustic analogues of black holes (dumb holes) are generated when a supersonic fluid flow entrains sound waves and forms a trapped region from which sound cannot escape. The surface of no return, the acoustic horizon, is qualitatively very similar to the event horizon of a general relativity black hole. In particular Hawking radiation (a thermal bath of phonons with temperature proportional to the "surface gravity") is expected to occur. In this note we consider quasi-one-dimensional supersonic flow of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in a Laval nozzle (converging-diverging nozzle), with a view to finding which experimental settings could magnify this effect and provide an observable signal. We discuss constraints and problems for our model and identify the issues that should be addressed in the near future in order to set up an experiment. In particular we identify an experimentally plausible configuration with a Hawking temperature of order 70 n K; to be contrasted with a condensation temperature of the order of 90 n K.
In the present thesis we study several schemes where the detection of the emitted light from an atomic ensemble gives information about the state of the atoms. In chapter 1 we review the basic theory for the light matter interaction in second quantized form. In chapter 2 we show how conservative potentials for the atoms, such as dispersive optical lattices, can be realized experimentally due to the dispersive interaction with a far detuned laser We then review some basic properties of the physics of a particle in a periodic potential. We show that the ground state and the lowest lying excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a dispersive optical lattice can be described by the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. In chapter 3 we study the photonic bandstructure of a chain of fixed pointlike atoms in a biperiodic configuration. We calculate the photonic spectra and the probe transmission if the atoms are in free space and inside a standing wave optical resonator. In chapter 4 we consider light scattering from ultracold atoms in an optical lattice where we calculate the photonic scattering cross section as a function of energy and direction of emission along the Mott-insulator-superfluid phase transition. We take into account the finite tunneling rate for the atoms, when evaluating the scattering cross section of the photons and the effect of photon recoil onto the atoms. In chapter 5 we consider a gas of ultracold atoms trapped at two spatially separated regions in space. Using a two Raman lasers to couple atoms out of the systems we show that it is possible to measure the mean value of the atomic field operator of the two systems by measuring the scattered light intensity of one of the Raman lasers. We show how this setup might be used to measure the temperature of a Bose-Einstein condensate and to monitor the superfluid to Mott-insulator phase transition for a gas of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice.
We study an experimentally realizable system containing stable black hole--white hole acoustic horizons in toroidally trapped Bose-Einstein condensates---the quantum de Laval nozzle. We numerically obtain stationary flow configurations and assess their stability using Bogoliubov theory, finding both in hydrodynamic and nonhydrodynamic regimes there exist dynamically unstable regions associated with the creation of positive and negative energy quasiparticle pairs in analogy with the gravitational Hawking effect. The dynamical instability takes the form of a two mode squeezing interaction between resonant pairs of Bogoliubov modes. We study the evolution of dynamically unstable flows using the truncated Wigner method, which confirms the two mode squeezed state picture of the analogue Hawking effect for low winding number.