This thesis investigates the dimensional crossover in low-dimensional interacting systems. To this end, we employ a field theory approach called bosonization to study a toy model consisting of coupled one-dimensional chains. As we tune the coupling between the chains, the system develops coherence that would not be present in a purely one-dimensional setup. These features are encoded in the one-body correlation function computed with a variational approach, but also in the transverse superfluid fraction. We find the relevant energy scales and validate our approach with accurate numerical simulations (Quantum Monte Carlo) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics. The results are then successfully tested with ultracold atom setups which allow for tunable interaction strength while continuously monitoring the system undergoing the dimensional crossover.
This thesis investigates the dimensional crossover in low-dimensional interacting systems. To this end, we employ a field theory approach called bosonization to study a toy model consisting of coupled one-dimensional chains. As we tune the coupling between the chains, the system develops coherence that would not be present in a purely one-dimensional setup. These features are encoded in the one-body correlation function computed with a variational approach, but also in the transverse superfluid fraction. We find the relevant energy scales and validate our approach with accurate numerical simulations (Quantum Monte Carlo) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics. The results are then successfully tested with ultracold atom setups which allow for tunable interaction strength while continuously monitoring the system undergoing the dimensional crossover.
Quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) systems, i.e., three- and two-dimensional (3D/2D) arrays composed of weakly coupled one-dimensional lattices of interacting quantum particles, exhibit rich and fascinating physics. They are studied across various areas of condensed matter and ultracold atomic lattice-gas physics, and are often marked by dimensional crossover as the coupling between one-dimensional systems is increased or temperature decreased, i.e., the Q1D system goes from appearing largely 1D to largely 3D. Phase transitions occurring along the crossover can strongly enhance this effect. Understanding these crossovers and associated phase transitions can be challenging due to the very different elementary excitations of 1D systems compared to higher-dimensional ones. In the present work, we combine numerical matrix product state (MPS) methods with mean-field (MF) theory to study paradigmatic cases of dimensional crossovers and the associated phase transitions in systems of both hard-core and soft-core lattice bosons, with relevance to both condensed matter physics and ultracold atomic gases. We show that the superfluid-to-insulator transition is a first order one, as opposed to the isotropic cases, and calculate transition temperatures for the superfluid states, finding excellent agreement with analytical theory. At the same time, our MPS+MF approach keeps functioning well where the current analytical framework cannot be applied. We further confirm the qualitative and quantitative reliability of our approach by comparison to exact quantum Monte Carlo calculations for the full 3D arrays.
In this work, we extend the analysis of interacting bosons at 2D-1D dimensional crossover for finite size and temperature by using the field theory approach ( b o s o n i z a t i o n ) and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Stemming from the fact that finite size low-dimensional systems are allowed only to have quasiordered phase, we consider the self-consistent harmonic approximation to compute the fraction of quasicondensate and its scaling with the system size. It allows us to understand the important role played by finite size and temperature across the dimensional crossover for deciding the condensate nature. Furthermore, we consider a mean-field approximation to compute the finite size effect on the crossover temperature for both weak and strong interactions. All the physical quantities we discuss here provide essential information for quantum gas at dimensional crossover and are directly detectable in cold atom experiments.
This thesis reports on experimental studies exploring few and many-body physics of ultracold \nBose and Fermi gases with reduced dimensionality. These experiments illustrate the versatility \nand great amount of control over the particle number, the interaction and other degrees of \nfreedom, like the spin, that these generic quantum systems offer. In the first part of this \nthesis, we use quasi one-dimensional few-particle systems of one to ten fermionic atoms to \ninvestigate the crossover from few to many-body physics. This is achieved by measuring the \ninteraction energy between a single impurity atom in a state |down> which repulsively interacts \nwith an increasing number of majority atoms in a state |up>. We find that the system quickly \napproaches the results from the many-body theory, which describes the behavior of a single \nimpurity immersed in a Fermi sea of an infinite number of majority particles. The second \npart of this thesis presents studies of the time evolution of a bosonic F=1 spinor BEC of 87Rb \natoms. In this system, we investigate the emergence and coarsening of ferromagnetic spin \ntextures from initially unmagnetized samples. While the ferromagnetic domains grow, we \nobserve the development of a spin space anisotropy which is in agreement with the predicted \nphase-diagram. The last part of this thesis presents our first steps towards the investigation \nof phase coherence of quasi two-dimensional quantum gases in the crossover from bosonic \nmolecules to fermionic atoms.
Ultracold gases are a versatile platform to simulate condensed matter physics, as virtually any parameter is experimentally tunable. In particular, highly anisotropic traps allow the realization of low-dimensional systems, where the role of quantum fluctuations is enhanced. I investigate the paradigmatic model of a one-dimensional Bose gas with contact interactions, a.k.a the Lieb-Liniger model, using powerful analytical tools such as Bethe Ansatz, Conformal Field Theory and the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid formalism, as well as the Bose-Fermi mapping. The effect of an additional harmonic trap in the longitudinal direction is studied within the Local Density Approximation. These methods allow to investigate with high accuracy its ground-state thermodynamics of the gas, its excitation spectra and correlation functions, from the k-body local correlations to the momentum distribution and the dynamical structure factor. These quantities characterize the coherence and superfluidity of the gas. In particular, I study the drag force exerted by a weak gaussian barrier stirred into the gas within linear response theory. Then, I investigate the appearance of a multimode structure obtained by releasing a transverse trapping, and the dimensional crossover in the limit of an infinite number of transverse modes.
In this Thesis we will theoretically address some issues concerning the Physics of ultracold Fermi gases, all of them with experimental relevance. The field of ultracold gases, and more recently of ultracold Fermi gases, is gathering a lot of experimental and theoretical interest for two main reasons: the great control on the relevant parameters of the problem and the relative simplicity of the minimal theory which is able to correctly describe the system. Building upon this solid background, ultracold gases provided an ideal laboratory for testing more refined theories and also for addressing fundamental issues of quantum mechanics as well as for simulating more complex physical systems such as those encountered in condensed matter. Even if the effective hamiltonian of ultracold gases can be simple, due to the diluteness of the system and the low temperature, which imply low energy physics, the solution of the quantum mechanic equations governing the state of these systems is not always simple. For the static properties usually mean-field solutions exist or perturbative expansions can be produced in some regimes. However Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques provide more accurate results especially in the strongly interacting regimes. For confined systems it is possible to use QMC only for a few particles, so that, for large number of particles, a fruitful combined use of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and QMC is necessary. The study of the dynamics of ultracold gases has received little attention with QMC techniques, due to the intrinsic computational difficulty of the many-body problem, so that general hydrodynamic equations are often used for studying the propagation of smoothly varying perturbations. In this Thesis we use QMC techniques for studying the problem of ferromagnetism in repulsive or effectively repulsive ultracold gases without a lattice and the problem of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein-Condensation (BCS-BEC) crossover in two dimensions. We use DFT in the Local Density Approximation (LDA) for calculating the density profiles of ultracold Fermi gases in harmonic magneto-optical traps, starting from QMC equations of state. We study the propagation of first and second sound in ultracold Fermi gases in cylindrical geometry, using the hydrodynamic equations of superfluids.
In this thesis we study the physics of quantum many-body systems confined to one-dimensional geometries. The work was motivated by the recent success of experimentalists in developing atom traps, capable of restricting the motion of the individual atoms to a single spatial dimension. Specifically, we look at aspects of the one-dimensional Bose gas including; excitation spectrum, correlation functions, and dynamical behaviour. In Chapter \ref{ch:excitation1D} we consider the Lieb-Liniger model of interacting bosons in one-dimension. We numerically solve the equations arising from the Bethe ansatz solution for the exact many-body wave function in a finite-size system of up to twenty particles for attractive interactions. We discuss novel features of the solutions, including deviations from the well-known string solutions due to finite size effects. We present excited state string solutions in the limit of strong interactions and discuss their physical interpretation, as well as the characteristics of the quantum phase transition that occurs as a function of interaction strength in the mean-field limit. Our results are compared to those obtained via exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in a truncated basis. In Chapter \ref{ch:g2} we analytically calculate the spatial nonlocal pair correlation function for an interacting uniform one dimensional Bose gas at finite temperature and propose an experimental method to measure nonlocal correlations. Our results span six different physical realms, including the weakly and strongly interacting regimes. We show explicitly that the characteristic correlation lengths are given by one of four length scales: the thermal de Broglie wavelength, the mean interparticle separation, the healing length, or the phase coherence length. In all regimes, we identify the profound role of interactions and find that under certain conditions the pair correlation may develop a global maximum at a finite interparticle separation due to the competition between repulsive interactions and thermal effects. In Chapter \ref{ch:casimirdrag} we study the drag force below the critical velocity for obstacles moving in a superfluid. The absence of drag is well established in the context of the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii theory. We calculate the next order correction due to quantum and thermal fluctuations and find a non-zero force acting on a delta-function impurity moving through a quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate at all subcritical velocities and at all temperatures. The force occurs due to an imbalance in the Doppler shifts of reflected quantum fluctuations from either side of the impurity. Our calculation is based on a consistent extension of Bogoliubov theory to second order in the interaction strength, and finds new analytic solutions to the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for a gray soliton. In Chapter \ref{ch:solitons} we study the effect of quantum noise on the stability of a soliton. We find the soliton solutions exactly define the reflectionless potentials of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. This results in complete stability of the solitons in a purely one dimensional system. We look at the modifications to the density profile of a black soliton due to quantum fluctuations.