Biased dynamics of the miscible-immiscible quantum phase transition in a binary Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

A quantum phase transition from the miscible to the immiscible phase of a quasi-one-dimensional binary Bose-Einstein condensate is driven by ramping down the coupling amplitude of its two hyperfine states. It results in a random pattern of spatial domains where the symmetry is broken separated by defects. In distinction to previous studies [J. Sabbatini et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 230402 (2011), New J. Phys. 14 095030 (2012)], we include nonzero detuning between the light field and the energy difference of the states, which provides a bias towards one of the states. Using the truncated Wigner method, we test the biased version of the quantum Kibble-Zurek mechanism [M. Rams et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 130603 (2019)] and observe a crossover to the adiabatic regime when the quench is sufficiently fast to dominate the effect of the bias. We verify a universal power law for the population imbalance in the nonadiabatic regime both at the critical point and by the end of the ramp. Shrinking and annihilation of domains of the unfavourable phase after the ramp, that is, already in the broken symmetry phase, enlarges the defect-free sections by the end of the ramp. The consequences of this phase-ordering effect can be captured by a phenomenological power law.