Condensation in a spin

Mäkelä, Harri

This thesis concentrates on the topological defects of spin-1 and spin-2 Bose-Einstein condensates, the ground states of spin-3 condensates, and the inert states of spinor condensates with arbitrary spin. Our work is based on the description of a spinor condensate of spin-S atoms in terms of a state vector of a spin-S particle. The results of the homotopy theory are used to study the existence and structure of the topological defects in spinor condensates. We construct examples of defects, study their energetics, and examine how their stability is affected by the presence of an external magnetic field. The ground states of spin-3 condensates are calculated using analytical and numerical means. Special emphasis is put on the ground states of a chromium condensate, whose dependence on the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction is studied. A simple geometrical method for the calculation of inert states of spinor condensates is presented. This method is used to find candidates for the ground states of spin-S condensates.

Александр Сергеевич Пелетминский, S. V. Peletminsky, Yu. V. Slyusarenko

Ville Lahtinen, Teresia M aansson, Juha Suorsa +1 more

Biao Lian, Shoucheng Zhang

We introduce the concept of a bosonic spin liquid condensate (SLC), where spinful bosons in a lattice form a zero-temperature spin disordered charge condensate that preserves the spin rotation symmetry, but breaks the U(1) symmetry due to a spinless order parameter with charge one. It has an energy gap to all the spin excitations. We show that such SLC states can be realized in a system of spin S ≥ 2 bosons. In particular, we analyze the SLC phase diagram in the spin 2 case using a mean-field variational wave function method. We show there is a direct analogy between the SLC and the resonating-valence-bond state.

Sh. Mardonov, Michele Modugno, Eugene Ya. Sherman

Disorder plays a crucial role in spin dynamics in solids and condensed matter systems. We demonstrate that for a spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate in a random potential two mechanisms of spin evolution that can be characterized as "precessional" and "anomalous" are at work simultaneously. The precessional mechanism, typical for solids, is due to the condensate displacement. The unconventional anomalous mechanism is due to the spin-dependent velocity producing the distribution of the condensate spin polarization. The condensate expansion is accompanied by a random displacement and fragmentation, where it becomes sparse, as clearly revealed in the spin dynamics. Thus, different stages of the evolution can be characterized by looking at the condensate spin.

Rachel Pei Chin Won