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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Macroscopic quantum self-trapping of a spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate in a double-well potential

Wen-Yuan Wang, Fu-Quan Dou, Wen-Shan Duan

Published Dec 5, 2017• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) phenomenon of a spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in a double-well potential, emphasizing the critical behavior at the transition to MQST. We show that as the nonlinear parameter characterizing the atomic interaction increases, the spin–orbit-coupled BEC appears as MQST, manifesting an asymmetric distribution of the atom in two wells. Then, the effect of the initial condition on the critical behavior at the transition to MQST is given. Analytic expressions for the dependence of the transition parameters on the system parameters and the initial condition are derived, which are in agreement with our numerical simulations.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6455/aa9f54

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Abstract We investigate the macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST) phenomenon of a spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in a double-well potential, emphasizing the critical behavior at the transition to MQST. We show that as the nonlinear parameter characterizing the atomic interaction increases, the spin–orbit-coupled BEC appears as MQST, manifesting an asymmetric distribution of the atom in two wells. Then, the effect of the initial condition on the critical behavior at the transition to MQST is given. Analytic expressions for the dependence of the transition parameters on the system parameters and the initial condition are derived, which are in agreement with our numerical simulations.
We investigate the nonlinear self-trapping phenomenon of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a symmetric double well, emphasizing its underlying dynamical phase transition. As the nonlinear parameter characterizing the interaction between the degenerate atoms increases, the BEC becomes self-trapped, manifesting an asymmetric distribution of the atomic density profile. The essence of this phenomenon is revealed to be a continuous phase transition and the underlying critical behavior is studied analytically and found to follow a logarithmic scaling law. We then go beyond the mean-field treatment and extend our treatment to discuss the effect of many-body quantum fluctuations on the transition. It is found that the transition point is shifted and the scaling law is broken. In particular, the quantum phase transition is accompanied by a change of the entanglement entropy, which is found to reach a maximum at the transition point. The underlying physics is revealed.
It is well known that increasing the nonlinearity due to repulsive atomic interactions in a double-well Bose-Einstein condensate suppresses quantum tunneling between the two sites. Here we find analogous behavior in the dynamical tunneling of a Bose-Einstein condensate between period-one resonances in a single driven potential well. For small nonlinearities we find unhindered tunneling between the resonances, but with an increasing period as compared to the noninteracting system. For nonlinearities above a critical value we generally observe that the tunneling shuts down. However, for certain regimes of modulation parameters we find that dynamical tunneling reemerges for large enough nonlinearities, an effect not present in spatial double-well tunneling. We develop a two-mode model in good agreement with full numerical simulations over a wide range of parameters, which allows the suppression of tunneling to be attributed to macroscopic quantum self-trapping.
The atomic population oscillations between two Bose–Einstein condensates with time-dependent nonlinear interaction in a double-well potential are studied. We first analyse the stabilities of the system's steady-state solutions. And then in the perturbative regime, the Melnikov chaotic oscillation of atomic population imbalance is investigated and the Melnikov chaotic criterion is obtained. When the system is out of the perturbative regime, numerical calculations reveal that regulating the nonlinear parameter can lead the system to step into chaos via period doubling bifurcations. It is also numerically found that adjusting the nonlinear parameter and asymmetric trap potential can result in the running-phase macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST). In the presence of a weak asymmetric trap potential, there exists the parametric resonance in the system.
We analyze the periodic tunneling of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential which has an oscillating energy barrier. We show that the dynamics of the Bose condensate critically depends on the frequency ωωω of the oscillating energy barrier. In the regime of periodic macroscopic quantum tunneling (PMQT) with frequency ωJω_JωJ​, the population imbalance of the condensate in the two wells can be enhanced under the condition of parametric resonance ω=2ωJω= 2 ω_Jω=2ωJ​. Instead, in the regime of macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST), we find that MQST can be reduced or suppressed under the condition of parametric resonance between the frequency ωωω of the energy barrier and the frequency ωSTω_{ST}ωST​ of oscillation through the barrier of the very small fraction of particles which remain untrapped during MQST.
We study the macroscopic quantum self-trapping effect in a mixture of Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) and quantum degenerate fermions, confined in a double-well potential with a variable separation between the wells. The fermions form a finite-size cloud that affects the static and dynamical properties of the BEC. In particular, our quasi-analytical and numerical analysis based on a mean-field model shows that the main features of macroscopic quantum self-trapping in a pure bosonic system are modified by the influence of fermions. Both the onset of self-trapping and the properties of the self-trapped state depend on the amount of fermions in the system as well as on the type of inter-species interaction. The properties of the quantum degenerate mixture are explored using realistic parameters for a 40 K– 87 Rb system.
Self-trapping is a hallmark phenomenon of nonlinear dynamics. It has significant applications in modern physics, including band structure engineering, phase transition dynamics, quantum metrology, and more. Dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), in which self-trapping can arise from interatomic interactions, are a prime testbed for probing nonlinear dynamics. In this Letter, we report the observation of self-trapping in a spin-orbit coupled BEC subjected to a stationary optical lattice. We employ Raman-induced spin-orbit coupling, complemented by a matching optical lattice that facilitates coupling between momentum eigenstates of the spin-orbit coupled system. By ramping the Raman detuning, we probe atomic current flow between these eigenstates and identify a clear distinction between a delocalized mixed state and a self-trapped regime. Following a quench of the Raman detuning, the time-averaged atomic current exhibits non-analytic behavior across the transition between these two regimes in certain parameter ranges, signaling a dynamical phase transition in the system.