T. P. Billam

Controlled formation and reflection of a bright solitary matter-wave

Bright solitons are non-dispersive wave solutions, arising in a diverse range of nonlinear, one-dimensional systems, including atomic Bose–Einstein condensates with attractive interactions. In reality, cold-atom experiments can only approach the idealized one-dimensional limit necessary for the realization of true solitons. Nevertheless, it remains possible to create bright solitary waves, the three-dimensional analogue of solitons, which maintain many of the key properties of their one-dimensional counterparts. Such solitary waves offer many potential applications and provide a rich testing ground for theoretical treatments of many-body quantum systems. Here we report the controlled formation of a bright solitary matter-wave from a Bose–Einstein condensate of 85Rb, which is observed to propagate over a distance of ∼1.1 mm in 150 ms with no observable dispersion. We demonstrate the reflection of a solitary wave from a repulsive Gaussian barrier and contrast this to the case of a repulsive condensate, in both cases finding excellent agreement with theoretical simulations using the three-dimensional Gross–Pitaevskii equation.

Inverse energy cascade in forced two-dimensional quantum turbulence

We demonstrate an inverse energy cascade in a minimal model of forced 2D quantum vortex turbulence. We simulate the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a moving superfluid subject to forcing by a stationary grid of obstacle potentials, and damping by a stationary thermal cloud. The forcing injects large amounts of vortex energy into the system at the scale of a few healing lengths. A regime of forcing and damping is identified where vortex energy is efficiently transported to large length scales via an inverse energy cascade associated with the growth of clusters of same-circulation vortices, a Kolmogorov scaling law in the kinetic energy spectrum over a substantial inertial range, and spectral condensation of kinetic energy at the scale of the system size. Our results provide clear evidence that the inverse energy cascade phenomenon, previously observed in a diverse range of classical systems, can also occur in quantum fluids.

Realizing bright-matter-wave-soliton collisions with controlled relative phase

We propose a method to split the ground state of an attractively interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensate into two bright solitary waves with controlled relative phase and velocity. We analyze the stability of these waves against their subsequent recollisions at the center of a cylindrically symmetric, prolate harmonic trap as a function of relative phase, velocity, and trap anisotropy. We show that the collisional stability is strongly dependent on relative phase at low velocity, and we identify previously unobserved oscillations in the collisional stability as a function of the trap anisotropy. An experimental implementation of our method would determine the validity of the mean-field description of bright solitary waves and could prove to be an important step toward atom interferometry experiments involving bright solitary waves.

Stochastic growth dynamics and composite defects in quenched immiscible binary condensates.

We study the sensitivity of coupled condensate formation dynamics on the history of initial stochastic domain formation in the context of instantaneously quenched elongated harmonically trapped immiscible two-component atomic Bose gases. The spontaneous generation of defects in the fastest condensing component, and subsequent coarse-graining dynamics, can lead to a deep oscillating microtrap into which the other component condenses, thereby establishing a long-lived composite defect in the form of a dark-bright solitary wave. We numerically map out diverse key aspects of these competing growth dynamics, focusing on the role of shot-to-shot fluctuations and global parameter changes (initial state choices, quench parameters, and condensate growth rates), with our findings also qualitatively confirmed by realistic finite-duration quenches. We conclude that phase-separated structures observable on experimental time scales are likely to be metastable states whose form is influenced by the stability and dynamics of the spontaneously emerging dark-bright solitary wave.

Identifying a Superfluid Reynolds Number via Dynamical Similarity

The Reynolds number provides a characterization of the transition to turbulent flow, with wide application in classical fluid dynamics. Identifying such a parameter in superfluid systems is challenging due to their fundamentally inviscid nature. Performing a systematic study of superfluid cylinder wakes in two dimensions, we observe dynamical similarity of the frequency of vortex shedding by a cylindrical obstacle. The universality of the turbulent wake dynamics is revealed by expressing shedding frequencies in terms of an appropriately defined superfluid Reynolds number, Re(s), that accounts for the breakdown of superfluid flow through quantum vortex shedding. For large obstacles, the dimensionless shedding frequency exhibits a universal form that is well-fitted by a classical empirical relation. In this regime the transition to turbulence occurs at Re(s)≈0.7, irrespective of obstacle width.

Generating Mesoscopic Bell States via Collisions of Distinguishable Quantum Bright Solitons

We investigate numerically the collisions of two distinguishable quantum matter-wave bright solitons in a one-dimensional harmonic trap. We show that such collisions can be used to generate mesoscopic Bell states that can reliably be distinguished from statistical mixtures. Calculation of the relevant s-wave scattering lengths predicts that such states could potentially be realized in quantum-degenerate mixtures of 85Rb and 133Cs. In addition to fully quantum simulations for two distinguishable two-particle solitons, we use a mean-field description supplemented by a stochastic treatment of quantum fluctuations in the solitons center of mass: we demonstrate the validity of this approach by comparison to a mathematically rigorous effective potential treatment of the quantum many-particle problem.

Coherence and instability in a driven Bose–Einstein condensate: a fully dynamical number-conserving approach

We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate driven by periodic delta-kicks. In contrast to first-order descriptions, which predict rapid, unbounded growth of the noncondensate in resonant parameter regimes, the consistent treatment of condensate depletion in our fully-time-dependent, second-order description acts to damp this growth, leading to oscillations in the (non)condensate population and the coherence of the system.

Equilibrium solutions for immiscible two-species Bose-Einstein condensates in perturbed harmonic traps

We investigate the mean-field equilibrium solutions for a two-species immiscible Bose-Einstein condensate confined by a harmonic confinement with additional linear perturbations. We observe a range of equilibrium density structures, including ball and shell formations and axially or radially separated states, with a marked sensitivity to the potential perturbations and the relative atom number in each species. Incorporation of linear trap perturbations, albeit weak, are found to be essential to match the range of equilibrium density profiles observed in a recent 87Rb-133Cs Bose-Einstein condensate experiment [McCarron et al., Phys. Rev. A 84 011603(R) (2011)]. Our analysis of this experiment demonstrates that sensitivity to linear trap perturbations is likely to be an important factor in interpreting the results of similar experiments in the future.

Spectral energy transport in two-dimensional quantum vortex dynamics

We explore the possible regimes of decaying two-dimensional quantum turbulence, and elucidate the nature of spectral energy transport by introducing a dissipative point-vortex model with phenomenological vortex-sound interactions. The model is valid for a large system with weak dissipation, and also for systems with strong dissipation, and allows us to extract a meaningful and unambiguous spectral energy flux associated with quantum vortex motion. For weak dissipation and large system size we find a regime of hydrodynamic vortex turbulence in which energy is transported to large spatial scales, resembling the phenomenology of the transient inverse cascade observed in decaying turbulence in classical incompressible fluids. For strong dissipation the vortex dynamics are dominated by dipole recombination and exhibit no appreciable spectral transport of energy.

Second-order number-conserving description of nonequilibrium dynamics in finite-temperature Bose-Einstein condensates.

While the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is well established as the canonical dynamical description of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) at zero temperature, describing the dynamics of BECs at finite temperatures remains a difficult theoretical problem, particularly when considering low-temperature, nonequilibrium systems in which depletion of the condensate occurs dynamically as a result of external driving. In this paper, we describe a fully time-dependent numerical implementation of a second-order, number-conserving description of finite-temperature BEC dynamics. This description consists of equations of motion describing the coupled dynamics of the condensate and noncondensate fractions in a self-consistent manner, and is ideally suited for the study of low-temperature, nonequilibrium, driven systems. The δ-kicked-rotor BEC provides a prototypical example of such a system, and we demonstrate the efficacy of our numerical implementation by investigating its dynamics at finite temperature. We demonstrate that the qualitative features of the system dynamics at zero temperature are generally preserved at finite temperatures, and predict a quantitative finite-temperature shift of resonance frequencies which would be relevant for, and could be verified by, future experiments.