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Studies in Applied Mathematics

Loops of Energy Bands for Bloch Waves in Optical Lattices

Matt Coles, Dmitry E. Pelinovsky

Published Oct 4, 2011• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We consider stationary Bloch waves in a Bose–Einstein condensate placed in a periodic potential for varying strengths of inter‐atomic interactions. Bifurcations of the stationary states are known to occur in this context. These bifurcations generate loops in the energy bands of the Bloch waves near the ends and the center of the Brillouin zone. Using the method of Lyapunov–Schmidt reductions, we show that these bifurcations are of the supercritical pitchfork type. We also characterize the change in stability of the stationary states across the bifurcation point. Analytical results are illustrated by numerical computations.

DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9590.2011.00536.x

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We consider stationary Bloch waves in a Bose–Einstein condensate placed in a periodic potential for varying strengths of inter‐atomic interactions. Bifurcations of the stationary states are known to occur in this context. These bifurcations generate loops in the energy bands of the Bloch waves near the ends and the center of the Brillouin zone. Using the method of Lyapunov–Schmidt reductions, we show that these bifurcations are of the supercritical pitchfork type. We also characterize the change in stability of the stationary states across the bifurcation point. Analytical results are illustrated by numerical computations.
We investigate the band structure of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a one-dimensional periodic potential by calculating stationary solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, which have the form of Bloch waves. We demonstrate that loops (``swallow tails'') in the band structure occur both at the Brillouin zone boundary and at the center of the zone, and they are therefore a generic feature. A physical interpretation of the swallow tails in terms of periodic solitons is given. The linear stability of the solutions is investigated as a function of the strength of the mean-field interaction, the magnitude of the periodic potential, and the wave vector of the condensate. The regions of energetic and dynamical stability are identified by considering the behavior of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional for small deviations of the condensate wave function from a stationary state. It is also shown how for long-wavelength disturbances the stability criteria may be obtained within a hydrodynamic approach.
Superflow of a Bose–Einstein condensate in an optical lattice is represented by a Bloch wave, a plane wave with periodic modulation of the amplitude. We review the theoretical results of the interaction effects in the energy dispersion of the Bloch waves and in the linear stability of such waves. For sufficiently strong repulsion between the atoms, the lowest Bloch band develops a loop at the edge of the Brillouin zone, with the dramatic consequence of a finite probability of Landau–Zener tunnelling even in the limit of a vanishing external force. Superfluidity can exist in the central region of the Brillouin zone in the presence of a repulsive interaction, beyond which Landau instability takes place where the system can lower its energy by making a transition into states with smaller Bloch wavenumbers. In the outer part of the region of Landau instability, the Bloch waves are also dynamically unstable in the sense that a small initial deviation grows exponentially in time. In the inner region of Landau instability, a Bloch wave is dynamically stable in the absence of persistent external perturbations. Experimental implications of our findings will be discussed.
Energy band structure and stability of Bose-Einstein condensate with both two- and three-body interactions in one-dimensional periodic optical lattices are discussed. It is demonstrated that the lowest energy band can show a loop structure at the boundary of the first Brillouin zone only when the number of atoms is larger than a critical value. When the loop structure is excited, an analytical expression of the loop width is obtained. The energetical and dynamical stabilities of the system are determined by considering the behavior of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional when the condensate wave function diverge away from a stationary state upon small perturbation, and its dependence on the number of atoms, the magnitude of the periodic potential, especially, the strength of the three-body force are studied. In addition, a criteria of the stability for excitations with long wavelengths is given by applying the hydrodynamic approach. The influence of the three-body interaction on the band properties and the stabilities are discussed in detail. It is shown that the critical density for developing the loop structure, the loop width, and the instability criteria are modified dramatically by the three-body interaction.
Bloch band and stabilities of Bloch waves of superfluid Fermi gases in one-dimensional (1D) periodic optical lattices are discussed. Within the hydrodynamical theory and the two-mode approximation, the Bloch band structure, the energetic and dynamical instabilities of Bloch waves at the first Brilliouin zone are presented. The results show that, when the atom density is beyond a critical value, a loop structure in the Bloch band at the zone edge is developed along the BEC-BCS crossover. The Bloch band structure and the stabilities of Bloch waves are modified dramatically when the system crosses from the BEC side to the BCS side, and they can be adjusted to the required characteristics by changing the atom's interaction (with the Feshbach resonance technique), the atom density, and the lattice parameters. The analytical expressions of the critical atom density for exciting the loop structure and maintaining the stabilities of Bloch waves are obtained.
We study systematically the period-doubled Bloch states for a weakly interacting Bose–Einstein condensate in a one-dimensional optical lattice. This kind of state is of form ψ k = e ikx ϕ k ( x ) , where ϕ k ( x ) is of a period twice the optical lattice constant. Our numerical results show how these nonlinear period-doubled states grow out of linear period-doubled states at a quarter away from the Brillouin zone center as the repulsive interatomic interaction increases. This is corroborated by our analytical results. We find that all nonlinear period-doubled Bloch states have both Landau instability and dynamical instability .