Effective field theory for spinor dipolar Bose Einstein condensates

We show that the effective theory of long wavelength low energy behavior of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate(BEC) with large dipole moments (treated as a classical spin) can be modeled using an extended non-linear sigma model (NLSM) like energy functional with an additional non-local term that represents long ranged anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction. Minimizing this effective energy functional we calculate the density and spin-profile of the dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in the mean-field regime for various trapping geometries. The resulting configurations show strong intertwining between the spin and mass density of the condensate, transfer between spin and orbital angular momentum in the form of Einstein-de Hass effect, and novel topological properties. We have also described the theoretical framework in which the collective excitations around these mean field solutions can be studied and discuss some examples qualitatively.     

Matter-wave scattering on a BEC in a double-well potential

We study the inelastic scattering of a probe particle on a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a double-well potential. We identify prominent signatures of the underlying mean-field phase space in the scattering signal and derive an analytical expression for the inelastic scattering cross section.     

Bragg spectroscopy of a strongly interacting 85Rb Bose-Einstein condensate

We report on measurements of the excitation spectrum of a strongly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate. A magnetic-field Feshbach resonance is used to tune atom-atom interactions in the condensate and to reach a regime where quantum depletion and beyond mean-field corrections to the condensate chemical potential are significant. We use two-photon Bragg spectroscopy to probe the condensate excitation spectrum; our results demonstrate the onset of beyond mean-field effects in a gaseous Bose-Einstein condensate.     

Superradiant reflection and scattering of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas

A semiclassical theory of scattering and reflection of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas is developed without using the mean-field approximation and with taking into account multiple scattering by each atom.     

BCS-BEC crossover in a two-dimensional Fermi gas

We investigate the crossover from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluidity to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in a two-dimensional Fermi gas at T=0 using the fixed-node diffusion Monte?Carlo method. We calculate the equation of state and the gap parameter as a function of the interaction strength, observing large deviations compared to mean-field predictions. In the BEC regime our results show the important role of dimer-dimer and atom-dimer interaction effects that are completely neglected in the mean-field picture. Results on Tan's contact parameter associated with short-range physics are also reported along the BCS-BEC crossover.     

Quantum instability of a Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interaction

We study the quantum and the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate gas confined in a toroidal trap. According to GP, if the interatomic interaction is attractive, the rotational states of the system can be dynamically stable or unstable depending on the strength of the mean-field energy. The full quantum analysis, however, reveals that the condensate is always unstable. Quantum fluctuations are particularly important close to the GP stability borderline, even for systems with a relatively large number of condensate atoms.     

Maxwell-Schrödinger equations for a dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an electromagnetic field

We give a general formulation of the semiclassical approach to solving the problem of interaction between a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute gas and electromagnetic radiation without using the commonly applied mean-field approximation. We suggest variants of the systems of Maxwell-Schrödinger equations whose solution describes such effects as superradiant light scattering, light beam amplification, atomic wave (atomic laser) amplification, induced transparency, and reduction in the group velocity of light.     

Momentum distribution and condensate fraction of a fermion gas in the BCS-BEC crossover

By using the diffusion Monte Carlo method we calculate the one- and two-body density matrix of an interacting Fermi gas at T = 0 in the BCS to Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) crossover. Results for the momentum distribution of the atoms, as obtained from the Fourier transform of the one-body density matrix, are reported as a function of the interaction strength. Off-diagonal long-range order in the system is investigated through the asymptotic behavior of the two-body density matrix. The condensate fraction of pairs is calculated in the unitary limit and on both sides of the BCS-BEC crossover.     

Critical temperature curve in BEC-BCS crossover

The strongly correlated regime of the crossover from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer pairing to Bose-Einstein condensation can be realized by diluting a system of two-component fermions with a short-range attractive interaction. We investigate this system via a novel continuous-space-time diagrammatic determinant Monte Carlo method and determine the universal curve Tc/epsilonF for the transition temperature between the normal and the superfluid states as a function of the scattering length with the maximum on the Bose-Einstein condensation side. At unitarity, we confirm that Tc/epsilonF=0.152(7).     

Intermediate coupling theory of electronic ferroelectricity

We calculate the quantum phase diagram of an extended Falicov-Kimball model for one- and two-dimensional systems in the intermediate coupling regime. Even though some features of the phase diagram are obtained analytically, the main results are calculated with a constrained path Monte Carlo technique. We find that this regime is dominated by a Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons with a built-in electric polarization. The inclusion of a finite hybridization between the bands removes the condensate but reinforces the ferroelectricity.     

Eliminating the mean-field shift in two-component bose-einstein condensates

We demonstrate that the nonlinear mean-field shift in a multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensate may be eliminated by controlling the two-body interaction coefficients. This modification can be achieved by engineering the environment of the condensate. We consider the case of a two-component condensate in a quasi-one-dimensional atomic waveguide, achieving modification of the atom-atom interactions by varying the transverse wave functions of the components. Eliminating the density-dependent phase shift represents a promising potential application for multicomponent condensates in atom interferometry and precision measurements.     

Dipole oscillations of a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of defects and disorder

We consider dipole oscillations of a trapped dilute Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a scattering potential consisting either in a localized defect or in an extended disordered potential. In both cases the breaking of superfluidity and the damping of the oscillations are shown to be related to the appearance of a nonlinear dissipative flow. At supersonic velocities the flow becomes asymptotically dissipationless.     

Multimode model of the superradiant Rayleigh scattering of light by the Bose-Einstein condensate of rarefied atomic gases: Linear analysis

A multimode model of the superradiant Rayleigh scattering of light by the Bose-Einstein condensate of rarefied gases is proposed. A limiting transition to the widely used mean-field model is considered. The initial (linear) stage of the scattering process is considered with neglect of the diffraction in the multimode representation. A dependence of the order and number of the angular atomic modes on the parameters of the problem is determined.     

Anisotropic sound and shock waves in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate

We study the propagation of anisotropic sound and shock waves in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in three dimensions (3D) as well as in quasi-two (2D, disk shape) and quasi-one (1D, cigar shape) dimensions using the mean-field approach. In 3D, the propagation of sound and shock waves are distinct in directions parallel and perpendicular to dipole axis with the appearance of instability above a critical value corresponding to attraction. Similar instability appears in 1D and not in 2D. The numerical anisotropic Mach angle agrees with theoretical prediction. The numerical sound velocity in all cases agrees with that calculated from Bogoliubov theory. A movie of the anisotropic wave propagation in a dipolar condensate is made available as supplementary material.     

Precision measurements of collective oscillations in the BEC-BCS crossover

We report on precision measurements of the frequency of the radial compression mode in a strongly interacting, optically trapped Fermi gas of (6)Li atoms. Our results allow for a test of theoretical predictions for the equation of state in the BEC-BCS crossover. We confirm recent quantum Monte Carlo results and rule out simple mean-field BCS theory. Our results show the long-sought beyond-mean-field effects in the strongly interacting Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) regime.     

Creation of Molecular Vortex

The molecular vortex is predicted to be generated from an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate through the two-color photoassociation process with a specially designed field configuration in which a Gaussian and a first-order Laguerre Gaussian laser beam are applied between the bound-bound and free-bound transition, respectively. We show that such a configuration can lead to a coherent superposition of an atomic condensate and a molecular quantized vortex. We develop stimulated adiabatic passages to minimize the effect of mean-field shifts due to collisions for optimal conversi9n of an atomic condensate into a ground molecular vortex.     

Quantum phase diffusions of a spinor condensate

We discuss the quantum phases and their diffusion in a spinor-1 atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. For ferromagnetic interactions, we obtain the exact ground state distribution of the phase fluctuations corresponding to the total atom number (N), the magnetization (M), and the alignment (or hypercharge) (Y) of the system. The mean-field ground state is shown to be stable against these fluctuations, which dynamically recover the two continuous symmetries associated with the conservation of N and M as in current experiments.