In the last decades, Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) have been a research topic of great interest. In 2015, a new type of liquid was found - dilute self-bound BEC droplets that have orders of magnitude lower density than air. These droplets are not predicted by classical van der Waals theory, but are stabilised by quantum fluctuations. In this bachelor thesis, these droplets were numerically studied when colliding with a Gaussian obstacle in two-dimensions. This is interesting because below a certain velocity, dilute BECs can behave like superfluids. This is called Landau's criterion. Several droplet velocities and Gaussian widths were tested with special focus on two cases: one where the droplet starts outside the Gaussian and one where the droplet starts with the Gaussian inside of it. The droplet was then propagated until the Gaussian was approximately at the centre of the droplet. In none of the collisions simulated, laminar- attached vortices- or vortex street flow patterns were observed. These are flow patterns one can see in similar classical examples and/or with trapped dilute BECs. However, it appeared that in all the cases the droplet did not fully behave like a superfluid. It might have been quantum fluctuations that created a drag force. Further, a large deformation of the droplet could be seen when the droplet started outside a broad Gaussian. This is believed to have been caused by the Gaussian piercing the surface of the droplet. Finally, suggestions for future research are given at the end of this thesis.
In the last decades, Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) have been a research topic of great interest. In 2015, a new type of liquid was found - dilute self-bound BEC droplets that have orders of magnitude lower density than air. These droplets are not predicted by classical van der Waals theory, but are stabilised by quantum fluctuations. In this bachelor thesis, these droplets were numerically studied when colliding with a Gaussian obstacle in two-dimensions. This is interesting because below a certain velocity, dilute BECs can behave like superfluids. This is called Landau's criterion. Several droplet velocities and Gaussian widths were tested with special focus on two cases: one where the droplet starts outside the Gaussian and one where the droplet starts with the Gaussian inside of it. The droplet was then propagated until the Gaussian was approximately at the centre of the droplet. In none of the collisions simulated, laminar- attached vortices- or vortex street flow patterns were observed. These are flow patterns one can see in similar classical examples and/or with trapped dilute BECs. However, it appeared that in all the cases the droplet did not fully behave like a superfluid. It might have been quantum fluctuations that created a drag force. Further, a large deformation of the droplet could be seen when the droplet started outside a broad Gaussian. This is believed to have been caused by the Gaussian piercing the surface of the droplet. Finally, suggestions for future research are given at the end of this thesis.
This thesis examines the manifestation of the critical velocity for superfluidity in dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Superfluidity is a macroscopic quantum phenomenon characterised by unique properties such as frictionless flow, high thermal conductivity and the presence of quantised vortices. Our study focuses on what is arguably the most well-known attribute: the ability for an object to move through a superfluid without experiencing a drag force when travelling below a threshold critical velocity.The Landau criterion for superfluidity predicts the critical velocity in a BEC is equal to the speed of sound, and this conclusion is supported by a large body of theoretical work. However, a number of experiments have observed lower critical velocities than theory predicts. In the first part of this thesis, we numerically model experiments on the superfluid critical velocity of an elongated, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate as reported by [P. Engels and C. Atherton, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 160405 (2007)]. These experiments swept a repulsive obstacle, formed by a optical dipole potential, through the long axis of a condensate at constant velocity. Their results found an increase in the resulting density fluctuations of the condensate above an obstacle velocity of v _ 0:3 mm s
Ultra-dilute self bound droplets in Bose-Einstein condensates have been of great interest since their first prediction in 2015.The self-bound nature of these bosonic gases combined with their extremely low densities make them a prime target of investigation for both experimentalists and theoreticians.In this thesis work dipole-dipole interacting gases are simulated using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation applying a fourth order, split-operator imaginary time method in two dimensions.First, the systems are studied at collapse for dipoles aligned with a magnetic field that tilts the dipoles in the two-dimensional plane.For some angles the dipole interaction becomes partly attractive which can lead to the collapse of the mean field solution.However, quantum fluctuations can stabilize the gas.Introducing the so-called Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) correction, the system can be stabilized and self-bound droplets may form.Here, we investigate this stabilization for a quasi two-dimensional set-up. Popular science Ultra-cold droplets intrigue physicistsA hot topic within ultra-cold atom physics has been the recent discovery of droplets formed out of Bose-Einstein condensates, a specific form of a super cold and very dilute gas.The condensate is however very different from any gas encountered in everyday life.A normal gas can be thought of as atoms or molecules moving around in all directions.If you cool this gas, all the particles move slower until they either form a liquid or freeze and become a solid.This is not the case for the Bose-Einstein condensate.Instead they spread through space due to quantum mechanics and together they form one entity.This entity, the so called condensate, behaves like no classical gas, as it is mainly governed by quantum mechanics and not by the random chance of a lot of small particles moving about.To add to this strangeness, droplets now seem to form out of these condensates.The existence of these droplets was quite a surprise.Among experimentalists working with creating Bose-Einstein condensates the expected result was a collapse of the system if forces pushing the condensate together won against the forces pushing it apart.However, experimentalists revealed that some other internal force stabilized drops inside the condensate.Not only that, this force seemed to be able to create drops that could exist outside a "trap", which usually is a number of lasers and magnets that keep the condensate together.Some droplets could not be formed without a trap, but instead formed crystal structures, a very intriguing result.This has led to an excited mood within the field of cold atom physics.But what to expect from this anti-collapse force, mainly being described as quantum fluctuations, and the droplets it creates needs further study to find out.In this thesis work we simulate the anti-collapse force and possible droplet systems solving the underlying quantum-mechanical many-particle equations numerically.One system of interest is the very thin disc of condensate, or a quasi two-dimensional condensate.This system is excellent for rotating the condensate in.Why? Imagine having a piece of pizza dough that in this case represents a condensate.If you spin this dough as a skilled pizza maker does, the pizza will become flat due to rotational forces.The same goes for the condensate.As you rotate it it will become flat anyways and therefore having a model where our very cold gas is already flat makes it easier to simulate rotating systems.But before you start rotating your drops, you have to find the drops.And to find the drops you have to study the forces pushing the condensate together and the forces pushing it apart.Therefore we presently aim at studying possible droplet formation in these pizza crust shaped condensates, to make way for the study of rotational excitations.Initial results show some promise that droplets can be found in these quasi two-dimensional systems.
Bose-Einstein condensation(BEC) has been a research hotspot in cold atom physics for the past few decades. Recently, experiments on BECs have reported the observation of liquid-like quantum droplets, attracting significant interest. The physics for forming quantum droplets can be explained by zero-point quantum fluctuation which effectively prohibit the collapse caused by the mean-field interactions between the atoms. The stabilization mechanism beyond the mean-field theory, induced by quantum fluctuations, can be described by the Lee–Huang–Yang(LHY) correction. Normally, forming stable 2D or 3D solitons in free space is a challenging problem. Additionally, an intriguing question is how to generate 2D or 3D solitons with embedded vorticity. The LHY stability mechanism offers a new approach to producing stable solitons and vortex solitons in BECs. In this thesis, two-dimensional vortex quantum droplets in Bose-Einstein condensates, including those with and without external potential, are examined. The study of solitons and vortex solitons in BECs under mean-field interactions and external potential has yielded significant results. This thesis expands this field by introducing the LHY correction to study stable quantum droplets and vortex droplets in BECs. The work chapters begin with studying binary quantum droplets in free space, considering the case where interspecies interactions are weakly attractive and intraspecies interactions are weakly repulsive. The zero-vorticity, semi-vortex, and binary vortex quantum droplets are studied in Chapter 3. Stable semi-vortex quantum droplets with embedded vorticity up to 8 are found in this system. This result gives a way to form stable vortex droplets with high topological charges in free space by controlling one component with zero vorticity and the other component with embedded vorticity. The stability and properties of these droplets are systematically studied. Chapter 4 explores the vortex quantum droplets and hidden vortex droplets confined within a radial lattice trap. It is found that the existence curves of the droplets confined within this optical trap could violate the Vakhitov-Kolokolov(VK) criterion, which is a necessary condition to form a stable soliton. A remarkable finding is that the vortex and hidden vortex quantum droplets in this radial lattice remain stable when they carry the embedded vorticity up to 11. The double-ring vortex and hidden vortex quantum droplets confined within this radial lattice are also discussed. The work expands from non-magnetic atoms to magnetic atoms in Chapter 5, which needs to consider the dipole-dipole interactions(DDIs). The anisotropic dipolar vortex quantum droplets trapped in an annular potential are studied. Under the effect of the ring shape potential, the double peak ring-shaped vortex droplets remain stable when they carry the embedded vorticity up to 11. It is the first time stable droplets with high topological charges have been formed in a dipolar system. Additionally, the shape transformation of dipolar vortex droplets induced by the strength of the mean-field interaction is examined. Finally, the behavior of dipolar vortex droplets confined within a weak-depth annular potential is also discussed. The results of this thesis may prove highly useful in creating stable vortex quantum droplets in Bose-Einstein condensates and advancing the broader field of ultracold atoms.
Bose-Einstein condensation(BEC) has been a research hotspot in cold atom physics for the past few decades. Recently, experiments on BECs have reported the observation of liquid-like quantum droplets, attracting significant interest. The physics for forming quantum droplets can be explained by zero-point quantum fluctuation which effectively prohibit the collapse caused by the mean-field interactions between the atoms. The stabilization mechanism beyond the mean-field theory, induced by quantum fluctuations, can be described by the Lee–Huang–Yang(LHY) correction. Normally, forming stable 2D or 3D solitons in free space is a challenging problem. Additionally, an intriguing question is how to generate 2D or 3D solitons with embedded vorticity. The LHY stability mechanism offers a new approach to producing stable solitons and vortex solitons in BECs. In this thesis, two-dimensional vortex quantum droplets in Bose-Einstein condensates, including those with and without external potential, are examined. The study of solitons and vortex solitons in BECs under mean-field interactions and external potential has yielded significant results. This thesis expands this field by introducing the LHY correction to study stable quantum droplets and vortex droplets in BECs. The work chapters begin with studying binary quantum droplets in free space, considering the case where interspecies interactions are weakly attractive and intraspecies interactions are weakly repulsive. The zero-vorticity, semi-vortex, and binary vortex quantum droplets are studied in Chapter 3. Stable semi-vortex quantum droplets with embedded vorticity up to 8 are found in this system. This result gives a way to form stable vortex droplets with high topological charges in free space by controlling one component with zero vorticity and the other component with embedded vorticity. The stability and properties of these droplets are systematically studied. Chapter 4 explores the vortex quantum droplets and hidden vortex droplets confined within a radial lattice trap. It is found that the existence curves of the droplets confined within this optical trap could violate the Vakhitov-Kolokolov(VK) criterion, which is a necessary condition to form a stable soliton. A remarkable finding is that the vortex and hidden vortex quantum droplets in this radial lattice remain stable when they carry the embedded vorticity up to 11. The double-ring vortex and hidden vortex quantum droplets confined within this radial lattice are also discussed. The work expands from non-magnetic atoms to magnetic atoms in Chapter 5, which needs to consider the dipole-dipole interactions(DDIs). The anisotropic dipolar vortex quantum droplets trapped in an annular potential are studied. Under the effect of the ring shape potential, the double peak ring-shaped vortex droplets remain stable when they carry the embedded vorticity up to 11. It is the first time stable droplets with high topological charges have been formed in a dipolar system. Additionally, the shape transformation of dipolar vortex droplets induced by the strength of the mean-field interaction is examined. Finally, the behavior of dipolar vortex droplets confined within a weak-depth annular potential is also discussed. The results of this thesis may prove highly useful in creating stable vortex quantum droplets in Bose-Einstein condensates and advancing the broader field of ultracold atoms.
The study of Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) in lower dimensions plays an important role in understanding the fundamentals of many-body physics as they can be treated theoretically with relative ease and can be verified experimentally. Recently, observation of a liquid-like state in a BEC mixture has been reported along with a theoretical prescription for its observation in the lower dimension. This observation is unique and has serious ramifications in our prevailing conception of the liquid state, which has a deep influence on the van der Waals theory. In explaining the self-bound nature of this state, quantum fluctuation and its fine balance with mean-field (MF) interaction turn out to be playing a key role. Though the experiments are performed predominantly in three dimensions, theoretical studies extend to the lower dimensions. In this brief review, we plan to summarize the recent theoretical advances in droplet research in the lower dimension and elaborate on the description of our contributions. We will mainly focus on analytical results related to this self-bound state in a one-dimension and quasi one-dimension environment. We aim to cover a few results from the family of cnoidal solutions to droplet solutions with smooth transitions between each other, finishing it by carrying a modest discussion on the supersolid phase.
When a superfluid flows past an obstacle, quantized vortices can be created in the wake above a certain critical velocity. In the experiment by Kwon et al. [Phys. Rev. A 91, 053615 (2015)], the critical velocity vc was measured for atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) using a moving repulsive Gaussian potential, and vc was minimized when the potential height V0 of the obstacle was close to the condensate chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$. Here we numerically investigate the evolution of the critical vortex shedding in a two-dimensional BEC with increasing V0 and show that the minimum vc at the critical strength ${V}_{0c}\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{\mu}$ results from the local density reduction and vortex-pinning effect of the repulsive obstacle. The spatial distribution of the superflow around the moving obstacle just below vc is examined. The particle density at the tip of the obstacle decreases as V0 increases to Vc0, and at the critical strength, a vortex dipole is suddenly formed and dragged by the moving obstacle, indicating the onset of vortex pinning. The minimum vc exhibits power-law scaling with the obstacle size $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ as ${v}_{c}\ensuremath{\sim}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ with $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\approx}1/2$.