Realizing an Atomtronic AQUID in a Rotating-Box Potential

Abstract

Atomtronic devices are matter-wave circuits designed to emulate the functional behavior of their electronic counterparts. Motivated by superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), atomic quantum interference devices (AQUIDs) have been developed using Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) confined in toroidal geometries. Here, we propose and numerically investigate an alternative implementation of an AQUID based on a BEC confined in a rotating box potential. A ring-like topology is established by introducing a central depletion region via a repulsive potential barrier. We observe the hallmark AQUID feature -- quantized phase winding that increases in discrete steps with angular velocity. Centrifugal effects induced by rotation degrade phase coherence and impair AQUID performance, which we mitigate by applying a counteracting harmonic confinement. Phase slips are found to be mediated by a vortex propagating from the central depletion zone to the edge of the condensate. To characterize the voltage response, we induce a bias current by translating the box along its long axis while keeping the central barrier fixed. This generates a density imbalance between the two reservoirs, exhibiting a periodic dependence on angular velocity -- analogous to the voltage-flux relation in electronic SQUIDs. Our results demonstrate that rotating box geometries provide a viable and flexible platform for realizing atomtronic AQUIDs with controllable dynamics and well-defined response characteristics.