The recent realization of Bose-Einstein condensation in atomic gases opens new possibilities for observation of macroscopic quantum phenomena. There are two important features of the system - weak interaction and significant spatial inhomogeneity. Because of this inhomogeneity a non-trivial "zeroth-order" theory exists, compared to the "first-order" Bogolubov theory. This theory is based on the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the condensate ψ-function. The equation is classical in its essence but contains the ℏ constant explicitly. Phenomena such as collective modes, interference, tunneling, Josephson-like current and quantized vortex lines can be described using this equation. The study of deviations from the zeroth-order theory arising from zero-point and thermal fluctuations is also of great interest. Thermal fluctuations are described by elementary excitations which define the thermodynamic behaviour of the system and result in Landau-type damping of collective modes. Fluctuations of the phase of the condensate wave function restrict the monochromaticity of the Josephson current. Fluctuations of the numbers of quanta result in the quantum collapse-revival of the collective oscillations. This phenomenon is considered in some details. Collapse time for the JILA experimental conditions turns out to be of the order of seconds.
We study stationary quantum fluctuations around a mean field limit in trapped, dilute atomic gases of repulsively interacting bosons at zero temperature. Our goal is to describe quantum-mechanically the lowest macroscopic many-body bound state consistent with a microscopic Hamiltonian that accounts for inhomogeneous particle scattering processes. In the mean field limit, the wave function of the condensate (macroscopic quantum state) satisfies a defocusing cubic nonlinear Schrödinger-type equation, the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. We include consequences of pair excitation, i.e., the scattering of particles in pairs from the condensate to other states, proposed in [T. T. Wu, J. Math. Phys., 2 (1961), pp. 105–123]. Our derivations rely on an uncontrolled yet physically motivated assumption for the many-body wave function. By relaxing mathematical rigor, from a particle Hamiltonian with a spatially varying interaction strength we derive via heuristics an integro–partial differential equation for the pair collision kernel, K, under a stationary condensate wave function,
Φ. For a scattering length with periodic microstructure of subscale
ϵ, we formally describe via classical homogenization the lowest many-body bound state in terms of
Φ and K up to second order in
ϵ. If the external potential is slowly varying, we solve the homogenized equations via boundary layer theory. As an application, we describe the partial depletion of the condensate.
We study analytically the quantum corrections to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for two weakly linked Bose-Einstein condensates. The goals are (1) to investigate dynamical regimes at the borderline between the classical and quantum behavior of the bosonic field, and (2) to search macroscopic quantum coherence phenomena not observable with other superfluid/superconducting systems. Quantum fluctuations renormalize the classical Josephson oscillation frequencies. Large amplitude phase oscillations are modulated, exhibiting collapses and revivals. We describe an interwell oscillation mode with a vanishing (ensemble averaged) mean value of the observables, but with oscillating mean square fluctuations. We finally discuss the limit in which the classical Gross-Pitaevskii (Josephson) dynamics is recovered.
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in an optical lattice driven out of equilibrium and the subsequent dynamics are investigated in the limit of weak atom-atom interactions both within the classical mean-field approximation and by incorporating an approximate model for quantum fluctuations. A prediction of pulsating dynamical instability in which atoms periodically collect together and subsequently disperse back into the initial homogeneous state is made. This instability is a unique feature of this Hamiltonian system characterized by a single unstable mode and can be considered as a remnant of the integrability of the non-integrable system. A phase-space model has been employed to incorporate the quantum fluctuations within the truncated Wigner approximation. It is observed that the quasiperiodic behavior of the pulsating dynamics persists in the individual stochastic realizations that represent the typical experimental outcomes, but the effect of quantum fluctuations is manifested in the ensemble averages of various properties of the system. Quantum effects are increasingly prominent and the revivals of the ensemble averages of the wave function become progressively weaker when the effective interaction strength is increased. Motivated by these predictions, we apply similar methods to two-component BECs. Within the mean-field model we demonstrate a spontaneous emergence of a vector soliton like structure, a bound pair of a soliton and an anti-soliton, from the homogeneous imbalanced mixture of two BEC species. This is a feature that uniquely combines phase separation, pulsating instability, and formation of a dark-bright soliton pair when the parameters involved are tuned properly. ^
In this thesis we study and characterize the behavior of Bose-Einstein condensates in a BJJ, using two different theoretical formalisms: the mean-field approximation (with the Gross-Pitaevskii equation) and many-body calculations (based on Bose-Hubbard models). \n\t\t\t\t With single-component Bose-Einstein condensates, we have focused on the study of the structure of the ground state as a function of the system parameters. We have looked for strongly correlated states, that cannot be described with mean-field theories, and we have proposed a variational wave function that captures the structure of the ground state for a broad interval of the system parameters. We have also studied the nonlinear effects of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, visible when atom-atom interactions are strong. \n\t\t\t\t In the case of binary mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates we have performed an intensive study of the different regimes that can arise and in which conditions. The standard two-mode approximation is one of the most used in the study of the Josephson effect, as it gives simple analytic equations that capture, to a great extend, the behavior of the system. When the link between condensates is not weak enough, one has to consider a correction to this approximation, namely, the improved two-mode approximation. In this thesis, we have derived this last approximation for the binary mixture and we have checked its validity comparing it with numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Moreover, as the Josephson dynamics is almost one-dimensional, we have considered the two most common reductions of the dimensionality of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In this case, we have also compared, using simulations, these one-dimensional reductions with the three-dimensional equation. \n\t\t\t\t We have also studied spinor condensates in an external BJJ. We have focused on condensates formed by atoms with spin
F=1, which can be in any of the three internal states
mF=0,pm1. Furthermore, in contrast to the binary mixture, spin interchange is allowed, so that the number of particles of each component becomes a dynamic variable. First, we have studied this system within the mean-field framework, using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We have derived the two-mode approximation equations and we have focused in studying the decoupling of the Josephson effect and the population transfer dynamics. In this case, we also compare the results with numerical simulations of the three dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Second, we have studied the spinor BJJ using the Bose-Hubbard formalism, because some features of quantum fluctuations are better captured than with the mean-field. We have characterized the ground state, paying special attention to the regions where it is strongly correlated. We have seen how the spin singlet formation (strongly correlated state between two particles) affects the structure of the ground state. \n\n\t\t\t\t Finally, we have studied finite temperature effects on spinor Bose-Einstein condensates in the presence of a magnetic field, for two different cases. First, we have analyzed a condensate formed by
F=1 atoms with contact interactions. We have considered that the condensate was formed by atoms in the internal state
mF=0 and we have studied the dependence of the fluctuations of the other two components
mF=pm1 as a function of temperature. We have used the Bogoliubov formalism applied to an homogeneous system, and then, we have generalized the result to an harmonic trap by using the local density approximation. Second, we have studied a condensate formed by particles with
F=3 with contact interactions and moreover, dipolar interactions. In a similar way as the previous case, we consider that the condensate is formed by particles with
mF=−3 and we study the fluctuations in
mF=−2 and
mF=−3.