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Physical Review E

Chaotic dynamics in a two-dimensional optical lattice

Eric M. Horsley, Stewart A. Koppell, L. E. Reichl

Published Jan 21, 2014• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The classical nonlinear dynamics of a dilute gas of rubidium atoms in an optical lattice is studied for a range of polarizations of the laser beams forming the lattice. The dynamics ranges from integrable to chaotic, and mechanisms leading to the onset of chaos in the lattice are described.
DOI
10.1103/physreve.89.012917

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The possibility of experimental observation of chaotic motion of cold atoms in a one-dimensional rigid optical lattice without any modulation of its parameters and additional impact is demonstrated theoretically and numerically. This effect of deterministic chaos arises near the optical resonance due to the nonlinear coupling of electronic and mechanical degrees of freedom in the atom. In a certain range of resonance detunings, at each crossing of the lattice-forming standing wave node by the atom, the atomic dipole moment changes pseudorandomly in a step-like manner, accompanied by an appropriate change in the atom momentum. This leads to the effect of chaotic wandering of atoms, possessing the properties of the classical deterministic chaos, namely, to the exponential sensitivity of atomic trajectories to small variations of the initial conditions and/or the control parameters. With time, part of atoms from the initial cloud changes the direction of their motion to the opposite one, which can be detected in a real experiment. Numerical experiments with lithium atoms with the spontaneous emission taken into account show that by varying the laser radiation intensity (normalised detuning of resonance) in the rigid optical lattice, one can implement the transition from the regular regime of the atomic motion to the chaotic wandering in a real experiment.
Here we present the work and results of studies on a two-dimensional optical lattice. The initial work on the classical dynamics describes the onset of chaos using action-angle variables and techniques developed by Walker and Ford \\cite{Walker}. Having documented the classical transition to chaos, using a technique called the discrete variable representation, we calculate the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the two-dimensional optical lattice Hamiltonian operator. The surprising fidelity of these numerical results to the true values (which can be verified for a certain parameter value) will hopefully allow for the future study of level repulsion and the development of quantum phase space distributions (e.g. the Wigner and Husimi quasi-probability distributions).
Abstract Coherent dynamics of cold atoms in a 2D optical lattice with interfering laser beams is studied with account for internal and external degrees of freedom of an atom. A system of differential equations for coupled degrees of freedom obtained in the semiclassical approximation has regular and chaotic solutions depending on the atomic-field detuning from resonance. The Hamilton chaos is manifested in the form of chaotic Rabi oscillations and random walks of cold atoms in the lattice for relatively small resonance detunings. It is shown that the deterministic chaos appears as a result of jumps in the value of the electric dipole moment of an atom approaching the nodes of a 2D standing wave. This in turn causes a pseudorandom behavior of momenta of atoms and, as a consequence, their random walks in the absolutely rigid 2D optical lattice without any external modulation of its parameters. It is shown in numerical experiments with 106 atoms that their distributions over the lattice for different resonance detunings differ significantly. This fact can be used for detecting the effect of random walks of cold atoms in a real experiment by the absorption image method.
This thesis describes the behaviour of cold atoms in optical lattices. In particular, it explores how transport through the energy bands of the optical lattice can be used to study quantum chaos and Bose-Einstein condensation.\n\nFirstly, this study examines the dynamics of ultra-cold sodium atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice and a three-dimensional harmonic trap, using both semi-classical and quantum-mechanical analyses. The atoms show mixed stable-chaotic classical dynamics, which originate from the intrinsically quantum-mechanical nature of the energy band. \nThe quantised energy levels exhibit Gutzwiller fluctuations, and the wavefunctions are scarred by an unstable periodic orbit. Distinct types of wavefunction are identified and related directly to particular parts of the classical phase space via a Wigner function analysis.\n\nSecondly, this report studies the dynamics of a rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate in a one-dimensional optical lattice and three-dimensional harmonic trap. The condensates are set in motion by displacing the trap and initially follow simple semi-classical paths, shaped by the lowest energy band. Above a critical displacement, the condensate undergoes Bragg reflection, and performs Bloch oscillations. After multiple Bragg reflections, solitons and vortices form which damp the centre-of-mass motion.\n\nFinally, the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices are investigated for different parameter regimes, as realised in recent experiments. The results reveal how the experiments can be understood, and identify regimes in which vortices trigger explosive expansion of the condensate.
Summary form only given. One of the central paradigms for classical and quantum chaos in conservative systems is the two-dimensional billiard in which particles are confined to a dosed region in the plane, undergoing elastic collisions with the walls and free motion in between. We report the first realization of billiards using ultracold atoms bouncing off the beams of light. These beams create the desired spatial pattern, forming an "optical billiard". The system is extremely flexible due to the high level of control of the billiards geometry, the initial atomic sample, and the available measurement techniques. We find an excellent agreement between theory and our experimental demonstration of chaotic and stable motion in optical billiards, establishing a new experimental testing ground for classical and quantum chaos.