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International Conference on Quantum Communications, Networking, and Computing (QCNC)

Tunneling Based Atom Interferometry Using Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Double-Well Potential

S Benel, Sandra Babu, Simon A. Haine, Manju Perumbil

Published Apr 6, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This work presents a numerical study of a tunnelingbased interferometer implemented using a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) confined in a static double-well potential, where the condensate dynamics are simulated using the one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation to capture the essential mean-field behavior. By carefully configuring the central barrier parameters, the double well is engineered to act as a coherent matterwave beam splitter. A relative phase is introduced between the two arms of the interferometer, enabling the extraction of phase information through interference. We analyze the resulting interference contrast to determine the best barrier configurations that allow the system to function effectively as an interferometer. It was found that the interferometric contrast remains robust under realistic fluctuations in the barrier parameters, confirming experimental feasibility. Using a fixed barrier for both the splitting and recombination steps, we avoid the need to dynamically ramp the barrier, as in other approaches. This allows us to realize a simple and experimentally accessible interferometry scheme in the double-well potential.

DOI
10.1109/qcnc69040.2026.00018

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This work presents a numerical study of a tunnelingbased interferometer implemented using a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) confined in a static double-well potential, where the condensate dynamics are simulated using the one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation to capture the essential mean-field behavior. By carefully configuring the central barrier parameters, the double well is engineered to act as a coherent matterwave beam splitter. A relative phase is introduced between the two arms of the interferometer, enabling the extraction of phase information through interference. We analyze the resulting interference contrast to determine the best barrier configurations that allow the system to function effectively as an interferometer. It was found that the interferometric contrast remains robust under realistic fluctuations in the barrier parameters, confirming experimental feasibility. Using a fixed barrier for both the splitting and recombination steps, we avoid the need to dynamically ramp the barrier, as in other approaches. This allows us to realize a simple and experimentally accessible interferometry scheme in the double-well potential.
Interferometry with trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) requires the development of techniques to recombine the two paths of the interferometer and map the accumulated phase difference to a measurable atom number difference. We have implemented and compared two recombining procedures in a double-well-based BEC interferometer. The first procedure utilizes the bosonic Josephson effect and controlled tunneling of atoms through the potential barrier, similar to laser light in an optical fiber coupler. The second one relies on the interference of the reflected and transmitted parts of the BEC wave function when impinging on the potential barrier, analogous to light impinging on a half-silvered mirror. Both schemes were implemented successfully, yielding an interferometric contrast of $\ensuremath{\sim}20$% and 42% respectively. Building efficient matter-wave recombiners represents an important step towards the coherent manipulation of external quantum superposition states of BECs.
Interferometry with trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) requires the development of techniques to recombine the two paths of the interferometer and map the accumulated phase difference to a measurable atom number difference. We have implemented and compared two recombining procedures in a double-well-based BEC interferometer. The first procedure utilizes the bosonic Josephson effect and controlled tunneling of atoms through the potential barrier, similar to laser light in an optical fiber coupler. The second one relies on the interference of the reflected and transmitted parts of the BEC wave function when impinging on the potential barrier, analogous to light impinging on a half-silvered mirror. Both schemes were implemented successfully, yielding an interferometric contrast of similar to 20% and 42% respectively. Building efficient matter-wave recombiners represents an important step towards the coherent manipulation of external quantum superposition states of BECs.
This thesis presents a theoretical investigation into the transmission and tunneling dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) through single and double barriers. We show how quantum tunneling differs from transmission and provide a method for separating them out. We then focus on finding an experimentally-realisable parameter regime for making an atomic Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) using two repulsive barriers and study how interatomic interactions affect the dynamics of resonant transmission. Finally, we show that an atomic FPI can be used as an acceleration sensor and we compare its sensitivity to that of a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer. We first investigate the transmission of an interacting BEC incident on a repulsive Gaussian barrier through numerical simulation. We study the dynamics associated with interatomic interactions across a broad parameter range not previously explored. Comparing effective one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) simulations to classical Boltzmann-Vlasov equation (BVE) simulations, we isolate purely coherent matterwave effects. We then define quantum tunneling as the portion of the GPE transmission not described by the classical BVE. Transmission shows an exponential dependence on barrier height in the classical simulation, suggesting that observing such an exponential dependence is not a sufficient condition for quantum tunneling. Furthermore, we find that the transmission is predominately described by classical effects, although interatomic interactions modify the magnitude of the quantum tunneling. We show that the interactions also affect the amount of classical transmission, producing transmission in regions where the non-interacting equivalent has none. This theoretical investigation clarifies the contribution quantum tunneling makes to overall transmission in many-particle interacting systems, potentially informing future tunneling experiments with ultracold atoms. In the second part, we numerically demonstrate atomic Fabry-Perot resonances for a pulsed interacting BEC source transmitting through double Gaussian barriers. These resonances are observable for an experimentally-feasible parameter choice. By simulating an effective one-dimensional GPE, we investigate the effect of atom number, scattering length, and BEC momentum width on the resonant transmission peaks. For Rb-85 atomic sources with the current experimentally-achievable momentum width, we show that reasonably high contrast Fabry-Perot resonant transmission peaks can be observed using a) non-interacting BECs of 100000 atoms, b) interacting BECs of 100000 atoms with s-wave scattering lengths a_s= +-0.1a_0, and c) interacting BECs of 1000 atoms with a_s=+-1.0a_0. Our theoretical investigation impacts any future experimental realisation of an atomic Fabry-Perot interferometer with an ultracold atomic source. Finally, we explore the possibility of using an atomic FPI as an acceleration sensor. Using Fisher information, we quantify the acceleration sensitivity of the system. We study the dependence of sensitivity on various parameters of the system and determine the optimum parameter regime that gives the best sensitivity. For a BEC with infinitely narrow momentum width, the sensitivity can be improved without limit by increasing cavity length. However, when the atomic cloud has a finite momentum width, there exists an optimum cavity length corresponding to each momentum width. By comparing the sensitivity of the atomic FPI to that of a Mach-Zender interferometer with similar parameters, we show that the sensitivity of the atomic FPI overcomes that of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer in low device length and low momentum width regimes. In short, we demonstrate that an atomic FPI can be successfully used for sensing acceleration and the sensitivity of the device can be increased by reducing its length and by using a BEC with lower momentum width compared to the cavity linewidth.
Motivated by an open theoretical question in Bose-Einstein condensate atom interferometry, we introduce a novel computational method to describe the condensate order parameter in the presence of a central barrier. We are able to follow the full dynamics of the system during the raising of a barrier, from a single macroscopically occupied ground state to a state where imaging shows a split density and, finally, to the observation of a phase-controlled interference pattern. We are able to discriminate between a mean-field and a two-mode state via the Penrose-Onsager criterion. By simulating the first such experiment, where in spite of the observed splitting of the condensate density there is never more than a single macroscopically occupied state, we provide a definitive interpretation of these systems as a novel many-body form of Young's double-slit experiment.
An atom interferometer is a sensitive device that has potential for many useful applications. Atoms are sensitive to electromagnetic fields due to their electric and magnetic moments and their mass allows them to be deflected in a gravitational field, thereby making them attractive for measuring inertial forces. The narrow momentum distribution of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a great asset in realizing portable atom interferometers. An example is a guided-wave atom interferometer that uses a confining potential to guide the motion of the condensate. Despite the promise of guided-wave atom interferometry with BEC, spatial phase and phase diffusion limit the contrast of the interference fringes. The control of these phases is required for successful development of a BEC-based guided-wave atom interferometer. This thesis analyses the guided-wave atom interferometer, where an atomic BEC cloud at the center of a confining potential is split into two clouds that move along different arms of the interferometer. The clouds accumulate relative phase due to the environment, spatially inhomogeneous trapping potential and atom-atom interactions within the condensate. At the end of the interferometric cycle, the clouds are recombined producing a cloud at rest and moving clouds. The number of atoms in the clouds that emerge depends on the relative phase accumulated by the clouds during propagation. This is investigated by deriving an expression for the probability of finding any given number of atoms in the clouds that emerge after recombination. Characteristic features like mean, standard deviation and cross-correlation function of the probability density distribution are calculated and the contrast of the interference fringes is optimized. This thesis found that optimum contrast is achieved through the control of total population of atoms in the condensate, trap frequencies, s-wave scattering length, and the duration of the interferometric cycle.
We perform interferometry with one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates in a double well potential. Using dressed adiabatic potentials on an atomchip, we dynamically split BECs, imposing a macroscopic coherence on the system. Fluctuations of the order parameter are revealed as local shifts in the interference pattern and allow a quantization of the decoherence process with time. For the uncoupled system we ultimately recover individual phase fluctuating condensates, whereas finite tunnel coupling counteracts the decoherence and leads to an equilibrium characterized by a finite coherence length. Decoherence decay and equilibrium coherence lengths are used to determine temperature and coupling strength of the system.