We focus on investigating the many-body physics of Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms and light. The many-body phenomena that we discuss in this thesis contains two different cases. The first case is the space-time crystal in a Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms. We show the observation of a space-time crystal using ultra-cold atoms, where the periodic structure in both space and time are directly visible in the experimental images. The underlying physics in our superfluid can be described ab initio and allows for a clear identification of the mechanism that causes the spontaneous symmetry breaking. Our results pave the way for the usage of space-time crystals for the discovery of novel nonequilibrium phases of matter. Moreover, we investigate the formation of the space-time. We theoretically model this space-time crystal that contains the high-order axial mode driving by the radial breathing mode. Furthermore, we provide the comparisons of the theoretical prediction, the experiment and the numerical simulation for the mode function, the flux and then the mode frequency. We obtain accurate agreements between the experiment, the numerical simulation and our theoretical prediction. The other case is the analogue Schwarzschild black hole in condensates of light. By etching a hole in the mirrors or by placing a scatterer in the center of a cavity, we can create a sink for light. In a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons this sink results in the creation of a so-called radial vortex, which is a two-dimensional analogue of a Schwarzschild black hole. We theoretically investigate the Hawking radiation and the associated greybody factor of this Schwarzschild black hole. In particular, we determine the density-density and velocity-velocity correlation functions of the Hawking radiation, which can be measured by observing the spatial correlations in the fluctuations in the light emitted by the cavity.
We focus on investigating the many-body physics of Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms and light. The many-body phenomena that we discuss in this thesis contains two different cases. The first case is the space-time crystal in a Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms. We show the observation of a space-time crystal using ultra-cold atoms, where the periodic structure in both space and time are directly visible in the experimental images. The underlying physics in our superfluid can be described ab initio and allows for a clear identification of the mechanism that causes the spontaneous symmetry breaking. Our results pave the way for the usage of space-time crystals for the discovery of novel nonequilibrium phases of matter. Moreover, we investigate the formation of the space-time. We theoretically model this space-time crystal that contains the high-order axial mode driving by the radial breathing mode. Furthermore, we provide the comparisons of the theoretical prediction, the experiment and the numerical simulation for the mode function, the flux and then the mode frequency. We obtain accurate agreements between the experiment, the numerical simulation and our theoretical prediction. The other case is the analogue Schwarzschild black hole in condensates of light. By etching a hole in the mirrors or by placing a scatterer in the center of a cavity, we can create a sink for light. In a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons this sink results in the creation of a so-called radial vortex, which is a two-dimensional analogue of a Schwarzschild black hole. We theoretically investigate the Hawking radiation and the associated greybody factor of this Schwarzschild black hole. In particular, we determine the density-density and velocity-velocity correlation functions of the Hawking radiation, which can be measured by observing the spatial correlations in the fluctuations in the light emitted by the cavity.
Time crystals are a phase of matter, for which the discrete time symmetry of the driving Hamiltonian is spontaneously broken. The breaking of discrete time symmetry has been observed in several experiments in driven spin systems. Here, we show the observation of a space-time crystal using ultracold atoms, where the periodic structure in both space and time is directly visible in the experimental images. The underlying physics in our superfluid can be described ab initio and allows for a clear identification of the mechanism that causes the spontaneous symmetry breaking. Our results pave the way for the usage of space-time crystals for the discovery of novel nonequilibrium phases of matter.
A space-time crystal has recently been observed in a superfluid Bose gas. Here we construct a variational model that allows us to describe from first principles the coupling between the radial breathing mode and the higher-order axial modes that underlies the observation of the space-time crystal. By comparing with numerical simulations we verify the validity of our variational Ansatz. From the model we determine the requirements for the observation of the space-time crystal and the Ising-like nature of the symmetry breaking involved. Also, we find the onset and growth rate of the space-time crystal, which can be compared to experiments.
In this thesis we consider the application of phase-space methods to Bose-Einstein condensates; the work comprises of three main parts: Part I: A phase-space method for the Bose-Hubbard model; Part II: An analogue model of an expanding universe in Bose-Einstein condensates. and Part III: An analogue model of an acoustic Black Hole in Bose-Einstein condensates. In part I we present a phase-space method for the Bose-Hubbard model based on the Qfunction representation. In particular, we consider two model Hamiltonians in the mean-field approximation; the first is the standard “one site” model where quantum tunneling is approximated entirely using mean-field terms; the second “two site” model explicitly includes tunneling between two adjacent sites while treating tunneling with other neighbouring sites using the meanfield approximation. The ground state is determined by minimising the classical energy functional subject to quantum mechanical constraints, which take the form of uncertainty relations. For each model Hamiltonian we compare the ground state results from the Q-function method with the exact numerical solution. The results from the Q-function method, which are easy to compute, give a good qualitative description of the main features of the Bose-Hubbard model including the superfluid to Mott insulator. We find the quantum mechanical constraints dominate the problem and show there are some limitations of the method particularly in the weak lattice regime. Analogue models of gravity have been motivated by the possibility of investigating phenomena not readily accessible in their cosmological counterparts. In particular, the prediction of quasiparticle creation in ultra-cold Bose gases in specific configurations can be viewed as an analogue to either cosmological particle creation or the Hawking effect. In part II of this thesis we investigate the analogue of cosmological particle creation in an expanding universe by numerically simulating a Bose-Einstein condensate with a time-dependent scattering length. In particular, we simulate a 2D homogeneous condensate using the classical field method via the truncated Wigner approximation. We show that for several different expansion scenarios the calculated particle production is consistent with the underlying theory. For inflationary models we find the particle production for long wavelength modes coincides with the analytic theory within the acoustic approximation, whereas the particle production is suppressed for short wavelength (ie. free-particle like) modes. Moreover, particle production is enhanced for faster expansions, approaching the analytic result for the sudden expansion in the limit of a very fast expansion. For the case of a cyclic expansion, particle production peaks for a mode frequency that is approximately half of the driving frequency as expected for parametric resonance. In part III of this thesis we investigate an acoustic black hole in a Bose-Einstein condensate, formed by two de Laval nozzles in a ring configuration — a system we refer to as the quantum de Laval nozzle. Our model is formulated in one dimension with a sinusoidal potential. For nonzero superfluid flow, this system can exhibit stable transonic flow with both black and white hole sonic horizons. Stationary states are found by solving the time-independent Gross-Pitaevskii equation subject to a phase quantisation constraint. By solving the projected Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for the system, we also find the discrete spectrum and quasiparticle modes. There are dynamical instabilities for certain values of winding number and potential depth, for which it is possible to construct pairs of normalisable modes. We further investigate the dynamics of the system using a classical field method based on the truncated Wigner approximation. For a low winding number and unstable configuration, we find exponential growth for the pair of unstable modes, whereas there is no growth in these modes for a stable configuration. This can be interpreted as non-degenerate parametric amplification, valid for short times. In contrast, for a large winding number, there is significant growth in modes for both stable and unstable configurations. This is indicative of higher order processes neglected in the quasiparticle picture, which is further reinforced by that fact that large winding number solutions require large nonlinearities. Finally, we consider the connection of our results with the usual semi-classical prediction of the Hawking effect. For an unstable configuration, the normalised unstable modes couple equal and opposite real frequencies, so that the growth in these modes represents the closest analogy with the Hawking effect for our quantum system.
In this thesis we study Bose-Einstein condensation of photons. In Chapter 1 we describe the current experimental set-up and we explain the two important features of the Bose-Einstein condensate of light: dissipation through the interaction with the external reservoir of dye molecules and driving by the external pumping. In Chapter 2 we use the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism to describe the complete time evolution of the light. We show that the finite-lifetime effects of the photons due to the interaction with the dye can be characterized by a single dimensionless parameter, that depends on the power of the external laser pumping the dye. We also determine spectral functions and collective modes of the photon gas in both the normal and the Bose-Einstein condensed phases. In Chapter 3 we demonstrate that the finite-lifetime effects on the spatial first-order correlation functions of the condensed light are negligible, but are important for the temporal first-order correlations. Furthermore, we show that in the normal state the first-order correlations of the photons are suppressed by the interaction with the dye. In Chapter 4 we develop a model to describe the effect of interactions on the number fluctuations in Bose-Einstein condensates. We find good agreement between the observed number fluctuations in the light Bose-Einstein condensate and the results of our model for different interaction strenghts. In Chapter 5 we propose an experiment to observe phase diffusion in the Bose-Einstein condensate of photons and we predict the outcome of individual measurements. In our model we incorporate quantum and thermal fluctuations as well as the finite-lifetime effects. In Chapter 6 we investigate the light in the presence of a periodic potential and we study the transition from a superfluid to a Mott-insulator. We demonstrate that in this system the true Mott-insulating state is longer present due the interactions with the dye molecules. Finally, in Chapter 7 we consider Bose-Einstein condensation of light in nano-fabricated semiconductor microcavities. We demonstrate that in this system there is also a single dimensionless damping parameter that depends on the external pumping. We propose to use the experimental freedom to investigate the superfluidity of the photons via the excitation of scissors modes. We determine the frequency and damping of these scissors modes. We also calculate the density-density correlations of the excited light fluid and we show that this contains a signature of the dynamical Casimir effect.
Analogue gravity explores how collective excitations in condensed matter systems can reproduce the behavior of fields in curved spacetimes. An important example is the acoustic black holes that can occur for sound in a moving fluid. In these lecture notes, we focus on atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), quantum fluids that provide an interesting platform for analogue gravity studies thanks to their accurate theoretical description, remarkable experimental control, and ultralow temperatures that allow the quantum nature of sound to emerge. We give a pedagogical introduction to analogue black holes and the theoretical description of BECs and their elementary excitations, which behave as quantum fields in curved spacetimes. We then apply these tools to survey the current understanding of black-hole superradiance and analogue Hawking radiation, including explicit examples and numerical methods.
This thesis covers three applications of Bose-Einstein condensates and related phenomena, in the theme of pair creation and pair annihilation. First, Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) are viewed as one of the candidates to implement a sonic black hole. This can lead to the observation of analog Hawking radiation, resulting from a phonon pair creation at a black-hole horizon (BH). Such implementation has been achieved in a resent experiment by J. Steinhauer, in which a black-hole/white-hole pair has been produced. He also reported the observations of self-amplifying Hawking radiation, via a lasing mechanism operating between the black and white-hole horizons. Through our simulations, we find that the observations should be attributed not to the black hole laser effect, but rather to a growing zero-frequency bow wave, generated at the white-hole horizon. The relative motion of the two horizons produces a Doppler shift of the bow wave at the BH, where it stimulates a monochromatic Hawking radiation. We also find that shot-to-shot atom number variations and quantum fluctuations give density-density correlations consistent with those reported in the experiments. In particular, atom number variations can produce a spurious correlation signal. Secondly, a sonic black hole/white hole pair and phonon pair creation can also be realized using a ring-shaped condensate. Here we focus on the phonon spectroscopy of a ring condensate. We probe the phonon excitation spectrum by applying a harmonically driven barrier to a 23Na Bose-Einstein condensate in a ring-shaped trap. When excited resonantly, these wavepackets display a regular periodic structure. The resonant frequencies depend upon the particular configuration of the barrier, but are commensurate with the orbital frequency of a sound wave traveling around the ring. Energy transfer to the condensate over many cycles of the periodic wavepacket motion causes enhanced atom loss from the trap at resonant frequencies. Solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation exhibit quantitative agreement with the experimental data. Thirdly, positronium (Ps) BECs have been of experimental and theoretical interest due to their potential application as the gain medium of a gamma-ray laser. Ps BECs are intrinsically spinor due to the presence of ortho- (o-Ps) and para-positronium (p-Ps), whose annihilation lifetimes differ by three orders of magnitude. We study the spinor dynamics and annihilation processes in the p-Ps/o-Ps system using both solutions of the GP equations and a rate-equation approach. For an initially unpolarized condensate, there is a threshold density at which spin mixing between o-Ps and p-Ps occurs. Beyond this threshold, there are unstable spatial modes accompanied by spin mixing. To ensure a high production yield above the critical density, a careful choice of external field must be made to avoid the spin mixing instability.