We present a theoretical study of finite momentum states in the context of degenerate gases and iron-based magnet. The unifying theme of these seemingly disparate states of condensed matter is the finite momentum of their respective grounds states and the associated enhanced fluctuations. For the degenerate atomic gases, we study in the first part of the thesis a system of two species of bosonic atoms interacting through a p-wave Feshbach resonance as realized in Rubidium-85/ Rubidium-87 mixture. In mapping out the phase diagram, we show that the system exhibits atomic (ASF), molecular (MSF) and atomic-molecular (AMSF) superfluid phases, where atoms, molecules, and atoms and molecules Bose condense, respectively. The ASF and MSF states are respectively characterized by a nonzero s-wave atomic and p-wave (orbital) spinor molecular condensates. The AMSF is distinguished by the presence of both of these condensates, with the s-wave atomic condensate component necessarily periodically modulated at a wavevector that is tunable with a magnetic field; that is, generically AMSF is a robust supersolid, that simultaneously breaks spatial translational and gauge symmetries. We explore the rich phenomenology of these phases and phase transitions between them, that we find to be strongly influenced by the quantum and thermal fluctuations. In the second part of the thesis, we study magnetism in Fe1+yTe, a parent compound of the iron-based high-temperature superconductors. Motivated by earlier studies that have provided evidences of finite momentum spiral states in these materials, we show that a spin-1 exchange model, supplemented by a single-ion anisotropy accounts well for the experimentally observed mag- netic phase diagram, that prominently exhibits commensurate bi-collinear and incommensurate spin-spiral orders with the associated low-energy spin-wave spectra. We derive the low energy hy- drodynamic models for these magnetic states and use it to describe the magneto-structural and commensurate-incommensurate transitions, and the static and dynamic structure functions across temperature - Fe doping phase diagram.
We present a theoretical study of finite momentum states in the context of degenerate gases and iron-based magnet. The unifying theme of these seemingly disparate states of condensed matter is the finite momentum of their respective grounds states and the associated enhanced fluctuations. For the degenerate atomic gases, we study in the first part of the thesis a system of two species of bosonic atoms interacting through a p-wave Feshbach resonance as realized in Rubidium-85/ Rubidium-87 mixture. In mapping out the phase diagram, we show that the system exhibits atomic (ASF), molecular (MSF) and atomic-molecular (AMSF) superfluid phases, where atoms, molecules, and atoms and molecules Bose condense, respectively. The ASF and MSF states are respectively characterized by a nonzero s-wave atomic and p-wave (orbital) spinor molecular condensates. The AMSF is distinguished by the presence of both of these condensates, with the s-wave atomic condensate component necessarily periodically modulated at a wavevector that is tunable with a magnetic field; that is, generically AMSF is a robust supersolid, that simultaneously breaks spatial translational and gauge symmetries. We explore the rich phenomenology of these phases and phase transitions between them, that we find to be strongly influenced by the quantum and thermal fluctuations. In the second part of the thesis, we study magnetism in Fe1+yTe, a parent compound of the iron-based high-temperature superconductors. Motivated by earlier studies that have provided evidences of finite momentum spiral states in these materials, we show that a spin-1 exchange model, supplemented by a single-ion anisotropy accounts well for the experimentally observed mag- netic phase diagram, that prominently exhibits commensurate bi-collinear and incommensurate spin-spiral orders with the associated low-energy spin-wave spectra. We derive the low energy hy- drodynamic models for these magnetic states and use it to describe the magneto-structural and commensurate-incommensurate transitions, and the static and dynamic structure functions across temperature - Fe doping phase diagram.
We show that a degenerate gas of two-species bosonic atoms interacting through a p-wave Feshbach resonance (as realized in, e.g., a (85)Rb -- (87)Rb mixture) exhibits a finite-momentum atomic-molecular superfluid (AMSF), sandwiched by a molecular p-wave (orbital spinor) superfluid and by an s-wave atomic superfluid at large negative and positive detunings, respectively. The magnetic field can be used to tune the modulation wave vector of the AMSF state, as well as to drive quantum phase transitions in this rich system.
We explored interaction cold atoms in new quantum regimes that have no prior analogue in condensed matter materials in three related main topics. First, motivated by recent advance in orbitally tuned Feshbach resonance experiments, we analyze the ground-state phase diagram and related low-energy excitation spectra of a high partial wave interacting Bose gas. Remarkably different from what was previously known in the p-wave case, the atomic superfluid is found to be momentum-independent in the present d-wave case. What is more, we study the quantum fluctuations in the condensates of a mixture of bosonic atoms and molecules with interspecies p-wave interaction. Our analysis shows that the quantum phase of coexisting atomic and molecular condensates is unstable at the mean-field level. The quantum Lee-Huang-Yang correction to the mean-field energy provides a remarkable mechanism to self-stabilize the phase. The correlated order spontaneously breaks a rich set of global U(1) gauge, atomic spin, spatial rotation and translation, and time-reversal symmetries. Second, we study the dynamics of a non-integrable spin chain model composed of two ingredients - a nearest neighbor Ising coupling, and an infinite range XX interaction. Unlike other fast scrambling many-body systems, this model is not known to be dual to a black hole. We demonstrate that our model exhibits fast scrambling for a wide parameter regime, accompanied by a fast growth of the entanglement entropy, as well as a swift change in the magnetization. Third, to extend the study of the highly chaotic many-body model, we analyze the ground state phases of the model with a nearest neighbor XXZ interaction and an infinite range XX interaction. By employing spin-wave theory, we find that there is a large parameter regime where the continuous U(1) symmetry of this model is spontaneously broken, which is not possible in the absence of the infinite range interaction by the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in the U(1) symmetry broken phase, the half chain entanglement entropy violates the area law logarithmically. Our work demonstrates that the interplay of short and long range interactions can lead to novel quantum phases of matter.
The monograph is devoted to the main aspects of theoretical description of quantum many-body systems with Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac statistics. We provide a review of modern methods of theoretical research, both analytical and numerical, as well as experimental realizations of unique effects and phenomena in quantum systems. The main attention is given to the theoretical study of exotic states in degenerate gases of atoms and quasiparticles. We develop a methology to accurately determine chemical potentials and other thermodynamic characteristics of ideal Bose and Fermi gases. These allow us to describe the ultraslow-light phenomenon in ultracold atomic gases in the framework of the microscopic approach that accounts for the internal degrees of freedom of bound states. The formalism relies on the linear response theory applied for the case of weak perturbation by the external elecromagnetic field. We also study Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in ideal atomic gases in different regimes of degeneracy of atomic and photonic components. A special attention is given to the Bogoliubov method of quasiaverages and related theory of a weakly interacting Bose gas with condensate. We extend the Bogoliubov theory to examine the spinor condensate and its magnetic states, as well as the condensate of heteronuclear Fermi-Fermi molecules. We also study a spatially periodic state of Bose-Einstein condensate, which can serve as a model for supersolid state of matter and develop the hydrodynamic theory of the latter. We outline the main statements of the Fermi liquid theory including the Pomeranchuk stability conditions of the normal state. It is shown that the violation of stability conditions results in certain phase transitions associated with the breaking of translational symmetry and rotational symmetry in the momentum space. We review a progress in the theoretical description of ultracold Fermi gases consisting of neutral atoms in the presence of the optical lattice spatial modulation. In case of multicomponent systems, a number of unique magnetically-ordered states are theoretically studied and predicted. We also develop a theory of highly dispersive spinful excitons in cobaltite compounds that explains certain unusual magnetic properties and effects in the resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on these materials.
The work described in this thesis can be divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the production of degenerate Fermi gases and Bose-Fermi mixtures. The second part of the thesis describes studies of strongly interacting spin-mixtures of ultracold fermions. We have cooled a magnetically trapped spin-polarized 6Li Fermi gas into quantum degeneracy by sympathetic cooling with bosonic 23Na. In order to do this, we have converted our previously developed apparatus for Bose-Einstein condensation of 23Na into a two-species cooling facility. We have produced 6Li samples with up to 7 × 107 atoms at temperatures below 0.5TF , and up to 3× 107 atoms at temperatures as low as 0.05TF . Further, we have also produced stable quantum degenerate mixtures of 23Na and 6Li, with several million atoms of each species. In a second set of experiments, we have studied strongly interacting spin-mixtures of 6Li. The strength of interactions was resonantly controlled by applying a magnetic field and tuning to “Feshbach resonances”, which occur when the total energy of the colliding particles coincides with the energy of a bound molecular state. These studies are relevant for the continuing quest for a superfluid transition in a Fermi gas. By studying the inelastic decay of the cloud, we have experimentally identified two Feshbach resonances for the inter-state interactions of the two lowest ground states of 6Li. Most importantly, we found that the lifetime of the strongly interacting system is long enough to observe a superfluid transition in the future. The effects of the coherent collisions in 6Li spin-mixtures were studied using radiofrequency (RF) spectroscopy. We demonstrated the absence of mean field “clock shifts” in a two-state mixture of fermions, and have introduced a three-level method to observe the interaction energy shifts. In the strongly interacting regime, near a Feshbach resonance, we have observed universal behavior of the interaction energy, independent of the value of the scattering length. Finally, we have theoretically studied the effects of Pauli blocking during a free expansion of a degenerate Fermi gas. We have concluded that a strongly interacting normal gas will undergo a hydrodynamic expansion even at zero temperature, due to inefficiency of the Pauli suppression of collisions. Therefore, the already observed hydrodynamic expansion cannot be conclusively interpreted as a signature of superfluidity. Thesis Supervisor: Wolfgang Ketterle Title: John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics
Since the realization of Bose-Einstein condensation in 1995, experimentalists in ultracold atomic gas community have developed a set of entirely new methods to study quantum gases. In ultracold atomic gases, implementation of synthetic gauge fields, the spin-orbit coupling, optical lattices and Feshbach resonances, provides a clean and highly controllable platform to tune the parameters of the system, which are typically fixed for real materials. Motivated by the rapid developments of experimental progresses, I investigate the ultracold atomic gases with synthetic gauge fields. \n \nIn this thesis, a bosonic gas in optical lattices in the presence of an effective staggered magnetic flux will be studied, using a generalized Bose-Hubbard model. Phase transition from the Mott insulating phase to the superfluid phase will be discussed. Novel superfluid phases including the stripe phase and the plane wave phase will be discussed. Furthermore, the existence of a tricritical point in the phase diagram is predicted. \n \nTo study Fermi systems with synthetic gauge fields, a spin-1=2 Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling is investigated by studying the structure of vortex line through the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein condensation (BCSBEC) crossover. Due to the spin-orbit coupling, the s-wave interacting Fermi gas behaves like an effective p-wave paired system. A discussion about the vortex line structure will be provided by calculating the spatial distribution of the gap function, the density, the particle current, and also the elementary excitations. It has been found that the most robust superfluid occurs around the unitary point, indicated by the smallest healing length and the largest critical current. \n \nFinally, motivated by the recent progress of p-wave resonantly Fermi gas in experiment, an extension of Nozières-Schmitt-Rink method to the p-wave case will be given. An investigation of the normal state properties will be given by calculating the equation of state and the p-wave contacts, which have been measured by the experiment. Furthermore, the superfluid transition temperature with realistic parameters appropriate for experiment is calculated and is found to be within experimental reach.
This doctoral dissertation is concerned with the physics of strongly interacting cold alkali atoms at low temperatures near a Feshbach resonance. In Chapter 1, we establish a connection between superfluid 4He and the BCS theory of superconductivity, and cold alkali atoms. We give the history of cold atoms, describing the significant achievements, pitfalls and challenges. In Chapter 2, we explore the thermodynamics of strongly interacting Bosonic atoms. We explore the stability of atomic Bosonic condensates near a Feshbach resonance. We show that the experimentally attained atomic condensate is a saddle point of the free energy, but the kinetics of its decay is slow. We also show that there is a second, higher density condensate branch which has an Ising-like phase transition to a molecular (paired) condensate when ramped across the Feshbach resonance. We argue that due to the high density, inelastic 3-body processes possibly render this transition unobservable. In Chapter 3, we explore the thermodynamics of Fermionic atoms near a Feshbach resonance. We determine the zero-temperature (T less than/less than T sub(F) ) pair propagator for a spinimbalanced mixture of up and down spin Fermions, and use it to show that such a mixture becomes completely polarized at mu sub(down arrow)= -0.9 mu sub(up arrow) . We also determine the Thouless criterion for superfluidity in a spin-imbalanced Fermi mixture, and construct a phase diagram of such a system at zero temperature. We then compare our results with experiments performed by two different groups. We find that interaction modifications to the minority spin self-energy inferred from our analysis is roughly double those observed in experiments. This discrepancy is consistent with the expected accuracy of the theory. In Chapter 4, we extend our analysis of the preceding chapter to calculate the surface tension of an interface between spin-polarized Fermions in the normal and superfluid phases. We show that, as expected, this surface tension decreases with increasing temperature and vanishes at a tricritical temperature, above which the transition becomes continuous. We also calculate the thickness of the interface; at T = 0, this is a few interparticle spacings, but diverges at the tricritical temperature. To compare with a set of relevant experiments, we also develop a phenomenological model for surface tension, and conclude that experimental surface tensions are an order of magnitude higher than what our microscopic calculation yields. We hypothesize possible mechanisms. In Chapter 5, we calculate the finite temperature phase diagram of a Bose-Fermi mixture produced from a spin-imbalanced two-component Fermi gas deep in the BEC phase. We show that there is a discontinuous transition between the superfluid and normal phase, with an entropy of mixing sufficient to cool the system down. We detail the construction of such a cooling scheme to cool a Fermi system below what is possible evaporatively, and find that the cooling efficiency is comparable to typical evaporative schemes. In Chapter 6, we shift our focus from thermodynamics to dynamics. We calculate shifts in the energy spectrum of a spin-balanced Fermionic superfluid of Cooper pairs due to the presence of energetically close states coupled by a Feshbach resonance. These shifts manifest themselves as clock-shifts in the radio-frequency spectrum of the superfluid. In addition to a broad asymmetric peak coming from the break-up of Cooper pairs, we find (for certain parameter ranges) a sharp, symmetric "bound-bound" spectral line coming from the conversion of Cooper pairs in one channel to pairs or molecules in another channel. Our theory shows remarkable quantitative agreement with experiments performed by an experimental group.