Ryan Barnett

Quantum Magnetism with Multicomponent Dipolar Molecules in an Optical Lattice

We consider bosonic dipolar molecules in an optical lattice prepared in a mixture of different rotational states. The 1/R(3) interaction between molecules for this system is produced by exchanging a quantum of angular momentum between two molecules. We show that the Mott states of such systems have a large variety of quantum phases characterized by dipolar orderings including a state with an ordering wave vector that can be changed by tilting the lattice. As the Mott insulating phase is melted, we also describe several exotic superfluid phases that will occur.

Classifying Novel Phases of Spinor Atoms

We consider many-body states of bosonic spinor atoms which, at the mean-field level, can be characterized by a single-particle wave function for the Bose-Einstein condensation and Mott insulating states. We describe and apply a classification scheme that makes explicit the spin symmetries of such states and enables one to naturally analyze their collective modes and topological excitations. Quite generally, the method allows classification of a spin F system as a polyhedron with 2F vertices. We apply the method to the many-body states of bosons with spins two and three. For spin-two atoms we find the ferromagnetic state, a continuum of nematic states, and a state having the symmetry of the point group of the regular tetrahedron. For spin-three atoms we obtain similar ferromagnetic and nematic phases as well as states having symmetries of various types of polyhedra with six vertices.

Electronic structure of overstretched DNA

Minuscule molecular forces can transform DNA into a structure that is elongated by more than half its original length. We demonstrate that this pronounced conformational transition is of relevance to ongoing experimental and theoretical efforts to characterize the conducting properties of DNA wires. We present quantum-mechanical calculations for acidie, dry, poly(CG)-poly (CG) DNA that has undergone elongation of up to 90% relative to its natural length, along with a method for visualizing the effects of stretching on the electronic eigenstates. We find that overstretching leads to a drastic drop of the hopping matrix elements between localized occupied electronic states, suggesting a dramatic decrease in the conductivity through holes.

Nematic Order by Disorder in Spin-2 Bose-Einstein Condensates

Submitted for the MAR08 Meeting of The American Physical Society Nematic order by disorder in spin-2 BECs RYAN BARNETT, Caltech, ARI TURNER, EUGENE DEMLER, Harvard, ASHVIN VISHWANATH, Berkeley — The effect of quantum and thermal fluctuations on the phase diagram of spin-2 BECs is examined. They are found to play an important role in the nematic part of the phase diagram, where a mean-field treatment of two-body interactions is unable to lift the accidental degeneracy between nematic states. Quantum and thermal fluctuations resolve this degeneracy, selecting the uniaxial nematic state, for scattering lengths a4 greater than a2, and the square biaxial nematic state for a4 less than a2. Paradoxically, the fluctuation induced order is stronger at higher temperatures, for a range of temperatures below Tc. For the experimentally relevant cases of spin-2 87Rb and 23Na, we argue that such fluctuations could successfully compete against other effects like the quadratic Zeeman field, and stabilize the uniaxial phase for experimentally realistic conditions. A continuous transition of the Ising type from uniaxial to square biaxial order is predicted on raising the magnetic field. These systems present a promising experimental opportunity to realize the ‘order by disorder’ phenomenon. Ryan Barnett Caltech Date submitted: 27 Nov 2007 Electronic form version 1.4

Edge-state instabilities of bosons in a topological band

In this work, we consider the dynamics of bosons in bands with non-trivial topological structure. In particular, we focus on the case where bosons are prepared in a higher-energy band and allowed to evolve. The Bogoliubov theory about the initial state can have a dynamical instability, and we show that it is possible to achieve the interesting situation where the topological edge modes are unstable while all bulk modes are stable. Thus, after the initial preparation, the edge modes will become rapidly populated. We illustrate this with the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model which can be realized with a double-well optical lattice and is perhaps the simplest model with topological edge states. This work provides a direct physical consequence of topological bands whose properties are often not of immediate relevance for bosonic systems.

Vortex lattice transitions in cyclic spinor condensates

We study the energetics of vortices and vortex lattices produced by rotation in the cyclic phase of F=2 spinor condensates. In addition to the familiar triangular lattice predicted by Tkachenko for 4He, many more complex lattices appear in this system as a result of the spin degree of freedom. In particular, we predict a magnetic-field-driven transition from a triangular lattice to a honeycomb lattice. Other transitions and lattice geometries are driven at constant field by changes in the temperature-dependent ratio of charge and spin stiffnesses, including a transition through an aperiodic vortex structure. Finally, we compute the renormalization of the ratio of the spin and charge stiffnesses from thermal fluctuations using a nonlinear sigma model analysis.

Spinor dynamics in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 thermal bose gas

We present experimental observations of coherent spin-population oscillations in a cold thermal, Bose gas of spin-1 23Na atoms. The population oscillations in a multi-spatial-mode thermal gas have the same behavior as those observed in a single-spatial-mode antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. We demonstrate this by showing that the two situations are described by the same dynamical equations, with a factor of 2 change in the spin-dependent interaction coefficient, which results from the change to particles with distinguishable momentum states in the thermal gas. We compare this theory to the measured spin population evolution after times up to a few hundreds of ms, finding quantitative agreement with the amplitude and period. We also measure the damping time of the oscillations as a function of magnetic field.

Classifying vortices inS=3Bose-Einstein condensates

Motivated by the recent realization of a 52Cr Bose-Einstein condensate, we consider the phase diagram of a general spin-three condensate as a function of its scattering lengths. We classify each phase according to its reciprocal spinor, using a method developed in a previous work. We show that such a classification can be naturally extended to describe the vortices for a spinor condensate by using the topological theory of defects. To illustrate, we systematically describe the types of vortex excitations for each phase of the spin-three condensate.

Vortex synchronization in Bose-Einstein condensates: a time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation approach

In this work, we consider vortex lattices in rotating Bose–Einstein condensates composed of two species of bosons having different masses. Previously (Barnett et al 2008 New J. Phys. 10 043030), it was claimed that the vortices of the two species form bound pairs and the two vortex lattices lock. Remarkably, the two condensates and the external drive all rotate at different speeds owing to the disparity of the masses of the constituent bosons. In this paper, we study the system by solving the full two-component Gross–Pitaevskii equations numerically. Using this approach, we verify the stability of the putative locked state that is found to exist within a disc centered on the axis of rotation and that depends on the mass ratio of the two bosons. We also derive a refined estimate for the locking radius tailored to the experimentally relevant case of a harmonic trap and show that this agrees with the numerical results. Finally, we analyze in detail the rotation rates of the different components in the locked and unlocked regimes.

Vortex lattice locking in rotating two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

The vortex density of a rotating superfluid, divided by its particle mass, dictates the superfluids angular velocity through the Feynman relation. To find how the Feynman relation applies to superfluid mixtures, we investigate a rotating two-component Bose–Einstein condensate, composed of bosons with different masses. We find that in the case of sufficiently strong interspecies attraction, the vortex lattices of the two condensates lock and rotate at the drive frequency, while the superfluids themselves rotate at two different velocities, whose ratio equals the ratio between the particle masses of the two species. In this paper, we characterize the vortex-locked state, establish its regime of stability, and find that it survives within a disk smaller than a critical radius, beyond which vortices become unbound and the two Bose-gas rings rotate together at the frequency of the external drive.