Decoupled sound and amplitude modes in trapped dipolar supersolids

Abstract

We theoretically investigate elementary excitations of dipolar quantum gases across the superfluid to supersolid phase transition in a toroidal trap. We show how decoupled first sound, second sound, and Higgs modes emerge by following their origin from superfluid modes across the transition. The structure of these excitations reveals the interplay between crystal and superfluid oscillations. Our results unify previous notions of coupled Goldstone and Higgs modes in harmonic traps, allowing us to establish a correspondence between excitations of trapped and infinitely extended supersolids. We propose protocols for selectively probing these sound and amplitude modes, accessible to state-of-the-art experiments.