The dimensionality of a system strongly affects its physical properties; the phase transitions that take place and the type of order that arises depend on the dimension. In low dimensional systems phase coherence proves more difficult to achieve as both thermal and quantum fluctuations play a stronger role. The two-dimensional Bose fluid is of particular interest as even if full order is precluded, a residual "quasi-long" range order arises at low temperatures. Then two ingredients have a significant effect on the state of the system: (i) the finite size of a real system enables one to recover of a macroscopic occupation of a single-particle state; (ii) the interactions between particles lead to the emergence of a non-conventional type of phase transition toward a superfluid state.In this thesis, we present an experimental study of the two-dimensional (2D) Bose gas using two different energy landscapes to trap our atoms. In the first part, we use the spatial dependence of some local properties of an inhomogeneous gas to characterize the state of the equivalent homogeneous system. We extract its equation of state with a high accuracy from the gas density profiles and test its superfluid behavior by measuring the heating induced by a moving local perturbation. In the second part, we observe and characterize the emergence of an extended phase coherence in a 2D homogeneous gas in particular via a 3D-to-2D dimensional crossover. We investigate the dynamical establishment of the coherence via a rapid crossing of the dimensional crossover and observe topological defects in the final superfluid state. We compare our findings with the predictions for the Kibble–Zurek mechanism.
The dimensionality of a system strongly affects its physical properties; the phase transitions that take place and the type of order that arises depend on the dimension. In low dimensional systems phase coherence proves more difficult to achieve as both thermal and quantum fluctuations play a stronger role. The two-dimensional Bose fluid is of particular interest as even if full order is precluded, a residual "quasi-long" range order arises at low temperatures. Then two ingredients have a significant effect on the state of the system: (i) the finite size of a real system enables one to recover of a macroscopic occupation of a single-particle state; (ii) the interactions between particles lead to the emergence of a non-conventional type of phase transition toward a superfluid state.In this thesis, we present an experimental study of the two-dimensional (2D) Bose gas using two different energy landscapes to trap our atoms. In the first part, we use the spatial dependence of some local properties of an inhomogeneous gas to characterize the state of the equivalent homogeneous system. We extract its equation of state with a high accuracy from the gas density profiles and test its superfluid behavior by measuring the heating induced by a moving local perturbation. In the second part, we observe and characterize the emergence of an extended phase coherence in a 2D homogeneous gas in particular via a 3D-to-2D dimensional crossover. We investigate the dynamical establishment of the coherence via a rapid crossing of the dimensional crossover and observe topological defects in the final superfluid state. We compare our findings with the predictions for the Kibble–Zurek mechanism.
The dimensionality of a system strongly affects its physical properties; the phase transitions that takeplace and the type of order that arises depend on the dimension. In low dimensional systems phasecoherence proves more difficult to achieve as both thermal and quantum fluctuations play a strongerrole. The two-dimensional Bose fluid is of particular interest as even if full order is precluded, a residual"quasi-long" range order arises at low temperatures. Then two ingredients have a significant effecton the state of the system: (i) the finite size of a real system enables one to recover of a macroscopicoccupation of a single-particle state; (ii) the interactions between particles lead to the emergence of anon-conventional type of phase transition toward a superfluid state.In this thesis, we present an experimental study of the two-dimensional (2D) Bose gas using two differentenergy landscapes to trap our atoms. In the first part, we use the spatial dependence of somelocal properties of an inhomogeneous gas to characterize the state of the equivalent homogeneous system.We extract its equation of state with a high accuracy from the gas density profiles and test itssuperfluid behavior by measuring the heating induced by a moving local perturbation. In the secondpart, we observe and characterize the emergence of an extended phase coherence in a 2D homogeneousgas in particular via a 3D-to-2D dimensional crossover. We investigate the dynamical establishment ofthe coherence via a rapid crossing of the dimensional crossover and observe topological defects in thefinal superfluid state. We compare our findings with the predictions for the Kibble–Zurek mechanism.
Phase transitions are ubiquitous in our three-dimensional world. By contrast, most conventional transitions do not occur in infinite uniform low-dimensional systems because of the increased role of thermal fluctuations. The crossover between these situations constitutes an important issue, dramatically illustrated by Bose-Einstein condensation: a gas strongly confined along one direction of space may condense along this direction without exhibiting true long-range order in the perpendicular plane. Here we explore transverse condensation for an atomic gas confined in a novel trapping geometry, with a flat in-plane bottom, and we relate it to the onset of an extended (yet of finite-range) in-plane coherence. By quench crossing the transition, we observe topological defects with a mean number satisfying the universal scaling law predicted by Kibble-Zurek mechanism. The approach described can be extended to investigate the topological phase transitions that take place in planar quantum fluids. Interacting quantum many-body systems in low dimensions is an active research area in ultra-cold gases. Here, Chomaz et al.study the dimensional crossover of Bose–Einstein condensation and observe the emergence of phase coherence in an ultra-cold quasi-2D Bose gas confined to a flat-bottom trapping potential.
Cohérence et Superfluidité de gaz de Bose en dimension réduite : des pièges harmoniques aux fluides uniformes La dimensionnalité d’un système affecte fortement ses propriétés physiques ; les transitions de phasequi s’y déroulent ainsi que le type d’ordre qui y apparaît dépendent de la dimension. Dans les systèmesde basse dimension, la cohérence s’avère plus difficile à établir car les fluctuations thermiques etquantiques y jouent un rôle plus important. Le fluide de Bose à deux dimensions est particulièrementintéressant car, même si un ordre total est exclu, un ordre résiduel à « quasi-longue » portée s’établit àbasse température. Deux ingrédients ont un effet significatif sur l’état du système : (i) la taille finie d’unsystème réel permet de retrouver une occupation macroscopique d’un état à une particule ; (ii) les interactionsentre particules conduisent à l’apparition d’un type non-conventionnel de transition de phasevers un état superfluide.Dans cette thèse, nous présentons une étude expérimentale du gaz de Bose bidimensionnel (2D) utilisantdeux types de paysages énergétiques pour piéger nos atomes. Dans la première partie, nous utilisonsla dépendance spatiale de certaines propriétés locales d’un gaz inhomogène pour caractériser l’étatdu système homogène équivalent. Nous extrayons son équation d’état des profils de densité et noustestons son comportement superfluide en mesurant le chauffage induit par le mouvement d’une perturbationlocale. Dans la deuxième partie, nous observons et caractérisons l’émergence d’une cohérencede phase étendue dans un gaz 2D homogène, en particulier via le passage de trois dimensions à deux(croisement dimensionnel). Nous étudions l’établissement dynamique de la cohérence par un passagerapide du croisement dimensionnel et nous observons des défauts topologiques dans l’état superfluidefinal. Nous comparons nos résultats avec les prédictions du mécanisme de Kibble–Zurek.
The physical properties of a homogeneous system at the thermodynamic equilibrium are strongly constrained by its dimensionality. In this respect, the two dimensional Bose gas constitutes a particularly interesting system: while it is impossible to observe a long range order at non-zero temperatures, there exists nevertheless a phase transition to a superfluid state at low temperatures. Furthermore, owing to the reduced dimensionality, the equation of state of the weakly interacting two-dimensional Bose gas is scale invariant. In this thesis, we present an experimental study of the two-dimensional Bose gas. We measure its equation of state with two different methods, and find a good agreement with analytic and numerical predictions. These results confirm as well the scale invariance of the system. Furthermore, one of the methods allows for a determination of the equation of state with a single adjustable parameter. We then characterize the superfluid response of the system., by showing evidence for a dissipationless response of the system to a moving perturbation. Finally, we analyze the fluctuations dynamics of the 2D Bose gas, which confirms both the suppression of density fluctuations in the superfluid phase, and the dominating contribution of phonons to the phase fluctuations.
The properties of phase transitions and the types of order present in the low-temperature states of matter are fundamentally dependent on the dimensionality of physical systems. Generally, highly ordered states are more robust in higher dimensions, while thermal and quantum fluctuations, which favour disordered states, play a more important role in lower dimensions. The case of a two-dimensional (2d) Bose fluid is particularly fascinating because of its "marginal" behaviour. In an infinite uniform 2d fluid thermal fluctuations at any non-zero temperature are strong enough to destroy the fully ordered state associated with Bose--Einstein condensation, but are not strong enough to suppress superfluidity in an interacting system at low, but non-zero temperatures. Further, the presence of residual "quasi-long-range" order at low temperatures leads to an interesting interplay between superfluidity and condensation in all experimentally relevant finite-size systems. In these notes we give an introduction to the physics of 2d Bose fluids from an atomic physics perspective. Our goal is to summarize the recent progress in theoretical understanding and experimental investigation of ultra-cold atomic gases confined to 2d geometry, and we also hope to provide a useful introduction to these systems for researchers working on related topics in other fields of physics.
This thesis is devoted to the study of the effect of disorder on low-dimensional weakly interacting Bose gases. In particular, the disorder triggers a quantum phase transition in one dimension at zero temperature that is investigated here through the study of the long-range behaviour of the one-body density matrix. An algebraic spatial decay of the coherence marks the quasicondensate, whereas, in the case of strong disorder, an exponential decay is recovered and it characterizes the insulating Bose-glass phase. This analysis is performed using an extended Bogoliubov theory to treat low dimensional Bose gases within a density-phase approach. A systematic numerical study allowed to draw the phase diagram of 1D weakly interacting bosons. The phase boundary obeys two different power laws between interaction and disorder strength depending on the regime of the gas where the transition occurs. These relations can be explained by means of scaling arguments valid in the white noise limit and in the Thomas-Fermi regime of the Bose gas. The phase transition to a quasicondensed phase comes along with the onset of superfluidity: the inspection of the superfluid fraction of the gas is consistent with these predictions for the boundary. The finite temperature case and the scenario in two dimensions are briefly discussed. The quantum phase transition is caused by low-energy phase fluctuations that destroy the quasi-long-range order characterizing the uniform system. Within the approach presented here, the phase fluctuations are identified as the low-lying Bogoliubov modes. Their properties have been investigated in detail to understand which changes trigger the phase transition and we found that the transition to the insulating phase is accompanied by a diverging density of states and a localization length, measured through the inverse participation ratio, that diverges as a power-law with power – 1 for vanishing energy. The fragmentation of the gas is also studied: this notion is very often associated with the onset of the insulating phase. The characterization of the density fragmentation is performed by analyzing the probability distribution of the density. A density profile is defined as fragmented when the probability distribution at vanishing density is finite or divergent and this happens for a gas in the Bose-glass phase. On the contrary, the superfluid phase is characterized by a zero limiting probability of having vanishing densities. This definition is derived analytically, and confirmed by a numerical study. This fragmentation criterion is particularly suited for detecting the phase transition in experiments: when a harmonic trap is included, the transition to the insulating phase can be extracted from the statistics of the local density distribution.