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arXiv:cond-mat/0107513 · Physical Review A

External Josephson effect in Bose-Einstein condensates with a spin degree of freedom

Sahel Ashhab, Carlos Lobo

Published Jul 19, 2002• 69 citations
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Abstract

We consider the Josephson effect between two spatially separated Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms each of which can be in two hyperfine states. We derive simple equations of motion for this system closely analogous to the Bloch equations. We also map the dynamics of the system onto those of a classical particle in a well. We find density and spin modes of oscillation and stable equilibrium points of the motion that are unstable in the spinless case. Finally we analyze the oscillation modes in the spin-1 $(F=1)$ case.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.66.013609

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We consider the Josephson effect between two spatially separated Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms each of which can be in two hyperfine states. We derive simple equations of motion for this system closely analogous to the Bloch equations. We also map the dynamics of the system onto those of a classical particle in a well. We find density and spin modes of oscillation and stable equilibrium points of the motion that are unstable in the spinless case. Finally we analyze the oscillation modes in the spin-1 (F=1)(F=1)(F=1) case.
We theoretically study the internal Josephson effect, which is driven by spin-exchange interactions and magnetic dipole-dipole interactions, in a three-level system for spin-1 Bose--Einstein condensates, obtaining novel spin dynamics. We introduce single spatial mode approximations into the Gross--Pitaevskii equations and derive the Josephson-type equations, which are analogous to tunneling currents through three junctions between three superconductors. From an analogy with two interacting nonrigid pendulums, we identify unique varied oscillational modes, called the $0--\ensuremath{\pi}$, 0−−running0--\mathit{running}0−−running, running−−running\mathit{running}--\mathit{running}running−−running, $2n\ensuremath{\pi} & \mathit{running}--2\ensuremath{\pi}$, singlenonrigidpendulum\mathit{single nonrigid pendulum}singlenonrigidpendulum, and tworigidpendulums\mathit{two rigid pendulums}tworigidpendulums phase modes. These Josephson modes in the three states are expected to be found in real atomic Bose gas systems.
A theory for the Rabi and internal Josephson effects in an interacting, homogeneous Bose-Einstein gas in the cold collision regime is presented. By using the microscopic transport equation for the density matrix the problem is mapped onto a problem of precession of two coupled classical spins. In the absence of an external excitation field our results agree with the theory of density induced frequency shifts in atomic clocks. In the presence of the external field, the internal Josephson effect occurs in a condensed Bose-Einstein gas as well as in a noncondensed gas. The crossover from Rabi oscillations to Josephson oscillations as a function of interaction strength is studied in detail.
We examine the nonlinear dynamical behavior of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential. Considering a condensate with large number of atoms, such that it can be described using the mean field theory, we separate the spinor dynamics from the spatial dynamics under the single-mode approximation. We limit ourselves to certain initial conditions under which the spatial mode is frozen so that we can focus on the spinor dynamics only. Identifying collective spin variables of our system, we derive the corresponding nonlinear equations of motion for them. Employing standard stability analysis, we find and characterize fixed points of the system. For a wide range of physical parameters such as tunneling strength and non-linear interactions, as well as for various initial preparations of the system, we identify qualitatively different dynamical regimes possible in the system. In particular, complete and incomplete oscillations of spin variables between quantum wells are found. We also show that by bringing some fixed points close to each other in the phase space of the system, it is possible to induce amplitude modulation to those otherwise regular tunneling oscillations.
We study several problems in Bose-Einstein condensates with internal degrees of freedom, and we find that this kind of condensates, which are usually referred to as spinor condensates, exhibit several phenomena that are qualitatively different from scalar (i.e. spinless) condensates. We analyze the ground state of a condensate with the constraint of maintaining a constant value of the total spin, and we find a number of different structures depending on the value of the total spin and the applied external magnetic field. We also study a certain type of measurement on spinor condensates in an attempt to distinguish between the so-called coherent and singlet states. We find that this kind of measurement cannot distinguish between the two states in question. We then consider a different experiment based on the interference between spinor condensate. It turns out that interference experiments cannot be used to distinguish between coherent and singlet states either. One of the interesting results regarding interference between two spinor condensates is that both the offset and visibility of the interference fringes vary from shot to shot, even if the initial conditions are identical in all the runs of the experiment. We then turn to the problem of condensing a gas of effectively spin 1/2 atoms. We argue that if spin relaxation mechanisms are slow enough, the condensate displays the phenomenon of fragmentation. The main difference of the fragmented state that we study and other fragmented states discussed in the literature is that this one is not caused by interatomic interactions, but rather by the constraint on the total spin of the system. We investigate the consequences of performing the experiment in a toroidal trap, and we find that, under certain conditions, the system spontaneously builds up a macroscopic value of orbital angular momentum. We finally discuss several problems related to the external Josephson effect. We derive simple equations of motion for the case of a two-component condensate that are identical to the extensively analyzed Bloch equations. We also find equilibrium points of the motion that are unstable in the spinless case.
We analyze theoretically Josephson oscillations in a mixture of two Zeeman states of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential. We find that in the strongly polarized case, the less populated component exhibits a complex dynamics with an anti-Josephson behavior, i.e., oscillates in phase with the more populated one. In the balanced population case, the Josephson oscillations unveil a dependence with the different spin collision channels. This effect could be used to experimentally measure the distinct scattering lengths entering in the description of a spinor condensate. Our numerical results are in close agreement with an analytical description of the binary mixture using a two-mode model.
We discuss the coherent atomic oscillations between two weakly coupled Bose-Einstein condensates. The weak link is provided by a laser barrier in a (possibly asymmetric) double-well trap or by Raman coupling between two condensates in different hyperfine levels. The boson Josephson junction (BJJ) dynamics is described by the two-mode nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation that is solved analytically in terms of elliptic functions. The BJJ, being a neutral, isolated system, allows the investigations of dynamical regimes for the phase difference across the junction and for the population imbalance that are not accessible with superconductor Josephson junctions (SJJ's). These include oscillations with either or both of the following properties: (i) the time-averaged value of the phase is equal to $\ensuremath{\pi} (\ensuremath{\pi}$-phase oscillations); (ii) the average population imbalance is nonzero, in states with macroscopic quantum self-trapping. The (nonsinusoidal) generalization of the SJJ ac and plasma oscillations and the Shapiro resonance can also be observed. We predict the collapse of experimental data (corresponding to different trap geometries and the total number of condensate atoms) onto a single universal curve for the inverse period of oscillations. Analogies with Josephson oscillations between two weakly coupled reservoirs of ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}\ensuremath{-}B$ and the internal Josephson effect in ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}\ensuremath{-}A$ are also discussed.