Lin Wen

Ground state of spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling in a Zeeman field

We systematically investigate the weakly trapped spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling in an external Zeeman field. We find that the mean-field ground state favors either a magnetized standing-wave phase or plane-wave phase when the strength of the Zeeman field is below a critical value related to the strength of spin-orbit coupling. The Zeeman field can induce a phase transition between standing-wave and plane-wave phases, and we determine the phase boundary analytically and numerically. The magnetization of these two phases responds to the external magnetic field in a very unique manner: the linear Zeeman effect magnetizes the standing-wave phase along the direction of the magnetic field, but the quadratic Zeeman effect demagnetizes the plane-wave phase. When the strength of Zeeman field surpasses the critical value, the system is completely polarized to a ferromagnetic state or polar state with zero momentum.

Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling in bilayer Bose-Einstein condensates

We explore a way of producing the Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) for ultracold atoms by using a two-component (spinor) atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) confined in a bilayer geometry. The SOC of the Rashba type is created if the atoms pick up a

Controlling phase separation of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate by confinement

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Two-component dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in concentrically coupled annular traps

phase after completing a cyclic transition between four combined spin-layer states composed of two spin and two layer states. The cyclic coupling of the spin-layer states is carried out by combining an intralayer Raman coupling and an interlayer laser assisted tunneling. We theoretically determine the ground-state phases of the spin-orbit-coupled BEC for various strengths of the atom-atom interaction and the laser-assisted coupling. It is shown that the bilayer scheme provides a diverse ground-state phase diagram. In an intermediate range of the atom-light coupling two interlacing lattices of half-skyrmions and half-antiskyrmions are spontaneously created. In the strong-coupling regime, where the SOC of the Rashba type is formed, the ground state represents plane-wave or standing-wave phases depending on the interaction between the atoms. A variational analysis is shown to be in good agreement with the numerical results.

Phase diagram of interacting Fermi gas in spin–orbit coupled square lattices

We point out that the widely accepted condition g(11)g(22) 0 (L -> infinity) whether the condition g(11)g(22) < g(12)(2) is satisfied or not. In the intermediate case of d = 2, the width L is irrelevant but again phase separation can be partially or even completely suppressed even if g(11)g(22) < g(12)(2). Moreover, the miscibility-immiscibility transition is turned from a first-order one into a second-order one by the kinetic energy. All these results carry over to d-dimensional harmonic potentials, where the harmonic oscillator length xi(ho) plays the role of L. Our finding provides a scenario of controlling the miscibility-immiscibility transition of a two-component condensate by changing the confinement, instead of the conventional approach of changing the values of the gs.

Exotic vortex lattices in a rotating binary dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate.

Dipolar Bosonic atoms confined in external potentials open up new avenues for quantum-state manipulation and will contribute to the design and exploration of novel functional materials. Here we investigate the ground-state and rotational properties of a rotating two-component dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate, which consists of both dipolar bosonic atoms with magnetic dipole moments aligned vertically to the condensate and one without dipole moments, confined in concentrically coupled annular traps. For the nonrotational case, it is found that the tunable dipolar interaction can be used to control the location of each component between the inner and outer rings, and to induce the desired ground-state phase. Under finite rotation, it is shown that there exists a critical value of rotational frequency for the nondipolar case, above which vortex state can form at the trap center, and the related vortex structures depend strongly on the rotational frequency. For the dipolar case, it is found that various ground-state phases and the related vortex structures, such as polygonal vortex clusters and vortex necklaces, can be obtained via a proper choice of the dipolar interaction and rotational frequency. Finally, we also study and discuss the formation process of such vortex structures.

Quantum information and many body physics with cold atoms

The spin–orbit (SO) coupled optical lattices have attracted considerable interest. In this paper, we investigate the phase diagram of the interacting Fermi gas with Rashba-type spin–orbit coupling (SOC) on a square optical lattice. The phase diagram is investigated in a wide range of atomic interactions and SOC strength within the framework of the cluster dynamical mean-field theory (CDMFT). We show that the interplay between the atomic interactions and SOC results in a rich phase diagram. In the deep Mott insulator regime, the SOC can induce diverse spin ordered phases. Whereas near the metal–insulator transition (MIT), the SOC tends to destroy the conventional antiferromagnetic fluctuations, giving rise to distinctive features of the MIT. Furthermore, the strong fluctuations arising from SOC may destroy the magnetic orders and trigger an order to disorder transition in close proximity of the MIT.

Exact solutions of the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation with time- and space-modulated coefficients

In the last decade, considerable advances have been made in the investigation of dipolar quantum gases. Previous theoretical investigations of a rotating binary dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate, where only one component possesses dipole moment, were mainly focused on two special orientations of the dipoles: perpendicular or parallel to the plane of motion. Here we study the ground-state and rotational properties of such a system for an arbitrary orientation of the dipoles. We demonstrate the ground-state vortex structures depend strongly on the relative strength between dipolar and contact interactions and the rotation frequency, as well as on the orientation of the dipoles. In the absence of rotation, the tunable dipolar interaction can be used to induce the squeezing or expansion of the cloud, and to derive the phase transition between phase coexistence and separation. Under finite rotation, the system is found to exhibit exotic ground-state vortex configurations, such as kernel-shell, vortex necklace, and compensating stripe vortex structures. We also check the validity of the Feynman relation, and find no significant deviations from it. The obtained results open up alternate ways for the quantum control of dipolar quantum gases.