Transport of cold atoms in optical lattices

The work discusses transport of cold atoms in optical lattices. Two related but different problems are considered: interacting Bose atoms subject to a static field (i.e., the atoms in a tilted lattice); and non-interacting atoms in a tilted lattice in the presence of a buffer gas. For these two systems we found, respectively: periodic, quasiperiodic, or decaying Bloch oscillations, as it depends on the strength of atom-atom interactions and the magnitude of the static field; diffusive directed current of atoms, similar to the electron current in ordinary conductors.     

Commensurability effects for fermionic atoms trapped in 1D optical lattices

Fermionic atoms in two different hyperfine states confined in optical lattices show strong commensurability effects due to the interplay between the atomic density wave ordering and the lattice potential. We show that spatially separated regions of commensurable and incommensurable phases can coexist. The commensurability between the harmonic trap and the lattice sites can be used to control the amplitude of the atomic density waves in the central region of the trap.     

Proposal for a chaotic ratchet using cold atoms in optical lattices

We investigate a new type of quantum ratchet which may be realized by cold atoms in a double-well optical lattice, pulsed with unequal periods. The classical dynamics is chaotic and we find the classical diffusion rate D is asymmetric in momentum up to a finite time t(r). The quantum behavior produces a corresponding asymmetry in the momentum distribution which is "frozen-in" by dynamical localization provided the break time t(*)>or=t(r). We conclude that the cold atom ratchets require Db/ variant Planck's over 2pi approximately 1, where b is a small deviation from period-one pulses.     

Modified optical bloch equations in nonlocal systems of two-level atoms interacting with ultrashort light pulses

Modified optical Bloch equations for two-level atoms in the radiation field with the complex polarization vector, the complex amplitude, and the complex wave vector are derived. A specific case is considered in which a field of this kind acts on a separate atom of a nonlocal atomic system. The solution of the modified equations for the interaction of atoms with ultrashort light pulses is obtained.     

Echo responses of an ensemble of cold atoms in optical lattices

The dynamics of an ultracold dilute boson gas in an optical lattice is described in the framework of the Bose-Hubbard model in which the parameters of the system are controlled by light. Within this model, an ensemble of Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in cells of a double optical lattice generates an echo response in the quantum-mechanical probability current. The echo signal is excited by biharmonic radiation pulses under two-photon (Raman) resonance conditions. The time profile of the echo signal and the role played by the inhomogeneous broadening and the interaction of atoms in the formation of the boson echo are discussed.     

Two-dimensional novel optical lattices with multi-well traps for cold atoms or molecules

We propose some new schemes to constitute two-dimensional (2D) array of multi-well optical dipole traps for cold atoms (or molecules) by using an optical system consisting of a binary π-phase grating and a 2D array of rectangle microlens. We calculate the intensity distribution of each optical well in 2D array of multi-well traps and its geometric parameters and so on. The proposed 2D array of multi-well traps can be used to form novel 2D optical lattices with cold atoms (or molecules), and form various novel optical crystals with cold atoms (or molecules), or to perform quantum computing and quantum information processing on an atom chip, even to realize an array of all-optical multi-well atomic (or molecular) BoseEinstein condensates (BECs) on an all-optical integrated atom (or molecule) chip.     

Edge transport in 2D cold atom optical lattices

We theoretically study the observable response of edge currents in two-dimensional cold atom optical lattices. As an example, we use Gutzwiller mean-field theory to relate persistent edge currents surrounding a Mott insulator in a slowly rotating trapped Bose-Hubbard system to time of flight measurements. We briefly discuss an application, the detection of the Chern number using edge currents of a topologically ordered optical lattice insulator.     

Quantum insulating states of F=2 cold atoms in optical lattices

In this Letter we study various spin correlated insulating states of F=2 cold atoms in optical lattices. We find that the effective spin exchange interaction due to virtual hopping contains an octopole coupling between two neighboring lattice sites. Depending on scattering lengths and numbers of particles per site the ground states are either rotationally invariant dimer or trimer Mott insulators or insulating states with various spin orders. Three spin-ordered insulating phases are ferromagnetic, cyclic, and nematic Mott insulators. We estimate the phase boundaries for states with different numbers of atoms per lattice site.     

Localization of cold atoms in state-dependent optical lattices via a Rabi Pulse

We propose a novel realization of Anderson localization in nonequilibrium states of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. A Rabi pulse transfers part of the population to a different internal state with infinite effective mass. These frozen atoms create a quantum superposition of different disorder potentials, localizing the mobile atoms. For weakly interacting mobile atoms, Anderson localization is obtained. The localization length increases with increasing disorder and decreasing interaction strength, contrary to the expectation for equilibrium localization.     

Random on-site interactions versus random potential in ultra cold atoms in optical lattices

We consider the physics of lattice bosons in the presence of either disordered on-site chemical potential or disordered on-site interparticle interactions. By means of analytical results using strong-coupling expansion, and numerical results based on quantum Monte Carlo calculations, we show that important qualitative changes in the zero temperature phase diagram are observed when comparing both cases. Although for both types of disorder superfluid, Mott-insulator and Bose-glass phases may be found, we show that in the case of random interactions the Mott-insulating regions shrink and eventually vanish for any finite disorder strength beyond a sufficiently large filling factor. Furthermore, at low values of the chemical potential both the superfluid and Mott insulator are stable towards the formation of a Bose-glass, leading to a possibly non-trivial tricritical point. We discuss possible experimental realizations of both types of disorder in the context of ultra cold atomic gases in optical lattices. PACS 03.75.Lm; 03.75.Ss; 05.30.Jp; 32.80.Pj     

Zoo of quantum phases and excitations of cold bosonic atoms in optical lattices

Quantum phases and phase transitions of weakly to strongly interacting bosonic atoms in deep to shallow optical lattices are described by a single multiorbital mean-field approach in real space. For weakly interacting bosons in one dimension, the critical value of the superfluid to Mott insulator (MI) transition found is in excellent agreement with many-body treatments of the Bose-Hubbard model. For strongly interacting bosons, (i) additional MI phases appear, for which two (or more) atoms residing in each site undergo a Tonks-Girardeau-like transition and localize, and (ii) on-site excitation becomes the excitation lowest in energy. Experimental implications are discussed.     

Bose-Einstein condensates in 1D optical lattices

We discuss the Bloch-state solutions of the stationary Gross-Pitaevskii equation and of the Bogoliubov equations for a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a one-dimensional optical lattice. The results for the compressibility, effective mass and velocity of sound are analysed as a function of the lattice depth and of the strength of the two-body interaction. The band structure of the spectrum of elementary excitations is compared with the one exhibited by the stationary solutions (Bloch bands). Moreover, the numerical calculations are compared with the analytic predictions of the tight binding approximation. We also discuss the role of quantum fluctuations and show that the condensate exhibits 3D, 2D or 1D features depending on the lattice depth and on the number of particles occupying each potential well. We finally show how, using a local density approximation, our results can be applied to study the behaviour of the gas in the presence of harmonic trapping.Received: 15 July 2003, Published online: 8 October 2003PACS: 03.75.Kk Dynamic properties of condensates; collective and hydrodynamic excitations, superfluid flow - 03.75.Lm Tunneling, Josephson effect, Bose-Einstein condensates in periodic potentials, solitons, vortices and topological excitations     

Delocalized entanglement of atoms in optical lattices

We show how to detect and quantify entanglement of atoms in optical lattices in terms of correlation functions of the momentum distribution. These distributions can be measured directly in the experiments. We introduce two kinds of entanglement measures related to the position and the spin of the atoms.     

Diffusion and localization of cold atoms in 3D optical speckle

In this work we re-formulate and solve the self-consistent theory for localization to a Bose-Einstein condensate expanding in a 3D optical speckle. The long-range nature of the fluctuations in the potential energy, treated in the self-consistent Born approximation, make the scattering strongly velocity dependent, and its consequences for mobility edge and fraction of localized atoms have been investigated numerically.     

Mixtures of strongly interacting bosons in optical lattices

We investigate the properties of strongly interacting heteronuclear boson-boson mixtures loaded in realistic optical lattices, with particular emphasis on the physics of interfaces. In particular, we numerically reproduce the recent experimental observation that the addition of a small fraction of 41K induces a significant loss of coherence in 87Rb, providing a simple explanation. We then investigate the robustness against the inhomogeneity typical of realistic experimental realizations of the glassy quantum emulsions recently predicted to occur in strongly interacting boson-boson mixtures on ideal homogeneous lattices.     

Strongly interacting atom lasers in three-dimensional optical lattices

We show that the dynamical melting of a Mott insulator in a three-dimensional lattice leads to condensation at nonzero momenta, a phenomenon that can be used to generate strongly interacting atom lasers in optical lattices. For infinite on-site repulsion, the case considered here, the momenta at which bosons condense are determined analytically and found to have a simple dependence on the hopping amplitudes. The occupation of the condensates is shown to scale linearly with the total number of atoms in the initial Mott insulator. Our results are obtained by using a Gutzwiller-type mean-field approach, gauged against exact-diagonalization solutions of small systems.     

Unconventional strongly interacting bose-einstein condensates in optical lattices

Feschbach resonances in a non-s-wave channel of two-component bosonic mixtures can induce atomic Bose-Einstein condensates with a nonzero orbital momentum in the optical lattice, if one component is in the Mott insulator state and the other is not. Such non-s-wave condensates break the symmetry of the lattice and, in some cases, time-reversal symmetry. They can be revealed in specific absorption imaging patterns.