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Physical Review A

Tunneling in the self-trapped regime of a two-well Bose-Einstein condensate

Tadeusz Pudlik, Holger Hennig, Dirk Witthaut, David K Campbell

Published Nov 10, 2014• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Starting from a mean-field model of the Bose-Einstein condensate dimer, we reintroduce classically forbidden tunneling through a Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization approach. We find closed-form approximations to the tunneling frequency more accurate than those previously obtained using different techniques. We discuss the central role that tunneling in the self-trapped regime plays in a quantitatively accurate model of a dissipative dimer leaking atoms to the environment. Finally, we describe the prospects of experimental observation of tunneling in the self-trapped regime, both with and without dissipation.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.053610

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•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations
Starting from a mean-field model of the Bose-Einstein condensate dimer, we reintroduce classically forbidden tunneling through a Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization approach. We find closed-form approximations to the tunneling frequency more accurate than those previously obtained using different techniques. We discuss the central role that tunneling in the self-trapped regime plays in a quantitatively accurate model of a dissipative dimer leaking atoms to the environment. Finally, we describe the prospects of experimental observation of tunneling in the self-trapped regime, both with and without dissipation.
Starting from a mean-field model of the Bose-Einstein condensate dimer, we reintroduce classically forbidden tunneling through a Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization approach. We find closed-form approximations to the tunneling frequency more accurate than those previously obtained using different techniques. We discuss the central role that tunneling in the self-trapped regime plays in a quantitatively accurate model of a dissipative dimer leaking atoms to the environment. Finally, we describe the prospects of experimental observation of tunneling in the self-trapped regime, both with and without dissipation.
We present particular examples of tunneling and transport dynamics of Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in a two-well trap: Josephson oscillations (JO), macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) and complete adiabatic transport. Being quite general, these dynamical regimes have close analogies with Josephson junctions in superconductors and transport problems in nanosystems. The calculations are performed within the time-dependent mean-field prescription within (transport) and beyond (JO and MQST) two-mode approximation. For the transport a universal adiabatic population transfer scheme is proposed, allowing a robust and complete transport even under strong nonlinear effects.
A Bose-Einstein condensate in a modulated, one-dimensional, anharmonic potential can exhibit dynamical tunneling between islands of regular motion in phase space. With increasingly repulsive atomic interactions, dynamical tunneling is predicted to cease due to self-trapping [S. Wüster ]. This suppression of tunneling oscillations is related to the same phenomenon that occurs in the two-mode dynamics of a repulsively interacting Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential. Here we present a two-mode model for dynamical tunneling based on nonlinear Floquet states and examine the range of validity of the approximation. We characterize nonlinear dynamical tunneling for different trap strengths, modulation amplitudes, and effective Planck constants. Using the linear Floquet states we derive an expression for the critical nonlinearity beyond which tunneling ceases. Finally we demonstrate the dynamical instability of selected nonlinear Floquet states and show how to initialize some Floquet states in experiments. Our detailed survey will enable experiments to target accessible parameter regimes for the study of nonlinear dynamical tunneling.
We study the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential in the mean-field approximation. Decoherence effects are considered by analyzing the couplings of the condensate to the environment. Two kinds of coupling are taken into account. With the first kind of coupling dominating, decoherence can enhance self-trapping by increasing the damping of the oscillations in the dynamics, while decoherence from the second kind of condensate-environment coupling leads to spoiling of the quantum tunneling and self-trapping.
By solving numerically the tunneling quantum dynamics between two trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC's), we find two distinct time scales. On the short time scale, we recover semiclassical predictions such as ``macroscopic quantum self-trapping'' and the ``amplitude transition,'' first studied in the polaron context, and the $``\ensuremath{\pi}$ states,'' previously discovered in the context of BEC's. On a much longer time scale, quantum dynamics shows that self-trapping is destroyed in contrast to semiclassical behavior. However, this time scale increases exponentially with the total number of condensate atoms, indicating that self-trapping and $``\ensuremath{\pi}$ states'' would be relevant and experimentally observable in the tunneling of BEC's.
This dissertation discusses a number of theoretical models of coupled bosonic modes, all closely related to the Bose-Hubbard dimer. In studying these models, we will repeatedly return to two unifying themes: the classical structure underlying quantum dynamics and the impact of weakly coupling a system to an environment. Or, more succinctly, semiclassical methods and open quantum systems. \n \nOur primary motivation for studying models such as the Bose-Hubbard is their relevance to ongoing ultracold atom experiments. We review these experiments, derive the Bose-Hubbard model in their context and briefly discuss its limitations in the first half of Chapter 1. In its second half, we review the theory of open quantum systems and the master equation description of the dissipative Bose-Hubbard model. This opening chapter constitutes a survey of existing results, rather than original work. \n \nIn Chapter 2, we turn to the mean-field limit of the Bose-Hubbard model. After reviewing the striking localization phenomena predicted by the mean-field (and confirmed by experiment), we identify the first corrections to this picture for the dimer. The most interesting of these is the dynamical tunneling between the self-trapping points of the mean-field. We derive an accurate analytical expression for the tunneling rate using semiclassical techniques. \n \nWe continue studying the dynamics near the self-trapping fixed points in Chapter 3, focusing on corrections to the mean-field that arise at larger nonlinearities and on shorter time scales than dynamical tunneling. We study the impact of dissipation on coherence and entanglement near the fixed points, and explain it in terms of the structure of the classical phase space. \n \nThe last chapter of the dissertation is also devoted to a dissipative bosonic dimer model, but one arising in a very different physical context. Abandoning optical lattices, we consider the problem of formulating a quantum model of operation of the cylindrical anode magnetron, a vacuum tube crossed-field microwave amplifier. We derive an effective dissipative dimer model and study its relationship to the classical description. Our dimer model is a first step towards the analysis of solid-state analogs of such devices.