arXiv subjects

A. Tononi

Publications and source records attributed to A. Tononi.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Vortex dipoles in expanding shell-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates

Releasing shell-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates from the external confinement produces a spherically symmetric density distribution characterized by concentric ripples surrounding a central peak. Here we investigate how a vortex-antivortex dipole affects this dynamics, finding that increasing dipole separation progressively breaks the spherical symmetry. Correspondingly, the interplay of vortex physics and curvature produces a nonmonotonic behavior of the cloud aspect ratio with the vortex distance, and decreases the maximal central density achieved during the expansion. These features can be used for detecting vortex dipoles prepared in shell-shaped superfluids, as well as a basis for analyzing their signatures in other thin superfluids with more general curved geometries.

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arXiv2025

Bose-Einstein condensation on axially-symmetric surfaces

We investigate the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation in ideal bosonic gases confined to axially-symmetric surfaces of revolution. The single-particle Schr\"odinger equation is formulated on a general surface and then explicitly solved in the ellipsoidal and toroidal geometries to determine the one-body energy spectrum. We discuss how the curved geometry impacts the quantum statistical properties of ideal Bose gases confined on these surfaces. Specifically, we observe that Bose-Einstein condensation is suppressed when the surface aspect ratio is increased and, correspondingly, it becomes highly elongated and acquires a one-dimensional character. We also evaluate the Bogoliubov excitation spectrum, providing insights into the collective excitations of the condensate. Our results establish the conditions to achieve quantum degeneracy in curved manifolds, thus guiding forthcoming experiments with thin shells, and set the basis for solving the few-to-many body problem in general surfaces of revolution.

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arXiv2025

Dimer problem on a spherical surface

We solve the problem of a dimer moving on a spherical surface and find that its binding energy and wave function are sensitive to the total angular momentum. The dimer gets squeezed in the direction orthogonal to the center-of-mass motion and can qualitatively change its geometry from two-dimensional to one-dimensional. These results suggest that combining the curved geometry with finite angular momentum may give rise to qualitatively new many-body phenomena in ultracold shell-shaped gases.

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arXiv2024

Quantum Vortices in Curved Geometries

The control over the geometry and topology of quantum systems is crucial for advancing novel quantum technologies. This work provides a synthesis of recent insights into the behaviour of quantum vortices within atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) subject to curved geometric constraints. We highlight the significant impact of the curvature on the condensate density and phase distribution, particularly in quasi-one-dimensional waveguides for different angular momentum states. An engineered periodic transport of the quantized vorticity between density-coupled ring-shaped condensates is discussed. The significant role of curved geometry in shaping the dynamics of rotational Josephson vortices in long atomic Josephson junctions is illustrated for the system of vertically stacked toroidal condensates. Different methods for the controlled creation of rotational Josephson vortices in coupled ring systems are described in the context of the formation of long-lived vortex configurations in shell-shaped BECs with cylindrical geometry. Future directions of explorations of vortices in curved geometries with implications for quantum information processing and sensing technologies are discussed.

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arXiv2023

Gas-to-soliton transition of attractive bosons on a spherical surface

We investigate the ground state properties of $N$ bosons with attractive zero-range interactions characterized by the scattering length $a>0$ and confined to the surface of a sphere of radius $R$. We present the analytic solution of the problem for $N=2$, mean-field analysis for $N\rightarrow \infty$, and exact diffusion Monte-Carlo results for intermediate $N$. For finite $N$, we observe a smooth crossover from the uniform state in the limit $a/R\gg 1$ (weak attraction) to a localized state at small $a/R$ (strong attraction). With increasing $N$ this crossover narrows down to a discontinuous transition from the uniform state to a soliton of size $\sim R/\sqrt{N}$. The two states are separated by an energy barrier, tunneling under which is exponentially suppressed at large $N$. The system behavior is marked by a peculiar competition between space-curvature effects and beyond-mean-field terms, both breaking the scaling invariance of a two-dimensional mean-field theory.

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arXiv2023

Heavy-light $N+1$ clusters of two-dimensional fermions

We study binding of $N$ identical heavy fermions by a light atom in two dimensions assuming zero-range attractive heavy-light interactions. By using the mean-field theory valid for large $N$ we show that the $N+1$ cluster is bound when the mass ratio exceeds $1.074N^2$. The mean-field theory, being scale invariant in two dimensions, predicts only the shapes of the clusters leaving their sizes and energies undefined. By taking into account beyond-mean-field effects we find closed-form expressions for these quantities. We also discuss differences between the Thomas-Fermi and Hartree-Fock approaches for treating the heavy fermions.

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arXiv2023

Shell-shaped atomic gases

We review the quantum statistical properties of two-dimensional shell-shaped gases, produced by cooling and confining atomic ensembles in thin hollow shells. We consider both spherical and ellipsoidal shapes, discussing at zero and at finite temperature the phenomena of Bose-Einstein condensation and of superfluidity, the physics of vortices, and the crossover from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer regime to a Bose-Einstein condensate. The novel aspects associated to the curved geometry are elucidated in comparison with flat two-dimensional superfluids. We also describe the hydrodynamic excitations and their relation with the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition for two-dimensional flat and curved superfluids. In the next years, shell-shaped atomic gases will be the leading experimental platform for investigations of quantum many-body physics in curved spatial domains.

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arXiv2023

Low-dimensional quantum gases in curved geometries

Atomic gases confined in curved geometries are characterized by distinctive features that are absent in their flat counterparts, such as periodic boundaries, local curvature, and nontrivial topologies. The recent experiments with shell-shaped quantum gases and the study of ring-shaped superfluids point out that the manifold of a quantum gas could soon become a controllable feature, thus allowing to address the fundamental study of curved many-body quantum systems. Here, we review the main geometries realized in the experiments, analyzing the theoretical and experimental status on their phase transitions and on the superfluid dynamics. In perspective, we delineate the study of vortices, the few-body physics, and the search for analog models in various curved geometries as the most promising research areas.

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arXiv2022

First and second sound in two-dimensional bosonic and fermionic superfluids

We review our theoretical results about the sound propagation in two-dimensional (2D) systems of ultracold fermionic and bosonic atoms. In the superfluid phase, characterized by the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the $U(1)$ symmetry, there is the coexistence of first and second sound. In the case of weakly-interacting repulsive bosons, we model the recent measurements of the sound velocities of 39K atoms in 2D obtained in the weakly-interacting regime and around the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) superfluid-to-normal transition temperature. In particular, we perform a quite accurate computation of the superfluid density and show that it is reasonably consistent with the experiment. For superfluid attractive fermions, we calculate the first and second sound velocities across the whole BCS-BEC crossover. In the low-temperature regime we reproduce the recent measurements of first-sound speed with 6Li atoms. We also predict that only in the finite-temperature BEC regime there is mixing between sound modes.

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arXiv2022

Self-binding of one-dimensional fermionic mixtures with zero-range interspecies attraction

For sufficiently large mass ratios the attractive exchange force caused by a single light atom interacting with a few heavy identical fermions can overcome their Fermi degeneracy pressure and bind them into an $N+1$ cluster. Here, by using a mean-field approach valid for large $N$, we find that $N+1$ clusters can attract each other and form a self-bound charge density wave, the properties of which we fully characterize. Our work shows that there are no fundamental obstacles for having self-bound states in fermionic mixtures with zero-range interactions.

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arXiv2022

Binding of heavy fermions by a single light atom in one dimension

We consider the problem of $N$ identical fermions interacting via a zero-range attractive potential with a lighter atom in one dimension. Using the few-body approach based on the Skorniakov and Ter-Martirosian equation, we determine the energies and the critical mass ratios for the emergence of the tetramer, pentamer, and hexamer. For large $N$, we solve the problem analytically by using the mean-field theory based on the Thomas-Fermi approximation. The system becomes bound when the heavy-to-light mass ratio exceeds a critical value which grows as $N^3$ at large $N$. We also employ a more sophisticated Hartree-Fock approach, which turns out to be equivalent to the Thomas-Fermi approximation for determining the energies, but provides a better description of the microscopic structure of the clusters.

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arXiv2022

Scattering theory and equation of state of a spherical two-dimensional Bose gas

We analyze the scattering problem of identical bosonic particles confined on a spherical surface. At low scattering energies and for a radius much larger than the healing length, we express the contact interaction strength in terms of the s-wave scattering length. Adopting this relation, we are then able to regularize the zero-point energy of the spherical Bose gas and to obtain its equation of state, which includes the corrections due to the finite radius of the sphere and coincides with the flat-case result in the infinite-radius limit. We also provide a microscopic derivation of the superfluid density of the system, reproducing a result postulated in a previous work. Our results are relevant for modeling the ongoing microgravity experiments with two-dimensional bubble-trapped Bose-Einstein condensates.

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arXiv2020

Propagation of first and second sound in a two-dimensional Fermi superfluid

Sound propagation is a macroscopic manifestation of the interplay between the equilibrium thermodynamics and the dynamical transport properties of fluids. Here, for a two-dimensional system of ultracold fermions, we calculate the first and second sound velocities across the whole BCS-BEC crossover and we analyze the system response to an external perturbation. In the low-temperature regime we reproduce the recent measurements [Phys Rev. Lett. {\bf 124}, 240403 (2020)] of the first sound velocity, which, due to the decoupling of density and entropy fluctuations, is the sole mode excited by a density probe. Conversely, a heat perturbation excites only the second sound, which, being sensitive to the superfluid depletion, vanishes in the deep BCS regime, and jumps discontinuously to zero at the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless superfluid transition. A mixing between the modes occurs only in the finite-temperature BEC regime, where our theory converges to the purely bosonic results.

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arXiv2020

Quantum Bubbles in Microgravity

The recent developments of microgravity experiments with ultracold atoms have produced a relevant boost in the study of shell-shaped ellipsoidal Bose-Einstein condensates. For realistic bubble-trap parameters, here we calculate the critical temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation, which, if compared to the one of the bare harmonic trap with the same frequencies, shows a strong reduction. We simulate the zero-temperature density distribution with the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, and we study the free expansion of the hollow condensate. While part of the atoms expands in the outward direction, the condensate self-interferes inside the bubble trap, filling the hole in experimentally observable times. For a mesoscopic number of particles in a strongly interacting regime, for which more refined approaches are needed, we employ quantum Monte Carlo simulations, proving that the nontrivial topology of a thin shell allows superfluidity. Our work constitutes a reliable benchmark for the forthcoming scientific investigations with bubble traps.

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arXiv2019

Bose-Einstein Condensation on the Surface of a Sphere

Motivated by the recent achievement of space-based Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) with ultracold alkali-metal atoms under microgravity and by the proposal of bubble traps which confine atoms on a thin shell, we investigate the BEC thermodynamics on the surface of a sphere. We determine analytically the critical temperature and the condensate fraction of a noninteracting Bose gas. Then we consider the inclusion of a zero-range interatomic potential, extending the noninteracting results at zero and finite temperature. Both in the noninteracting and interacting cases the crucial role of the finite radius of the sphere is emphasized, showing that in the limit of infinite radius one recovers the familiar two-dimensional results. We also investigate the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition driven by vortical configurations on the surface of the sphere, analyzing the interplay of condensation and superfluidity in this finite-size system.

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arXiv2018

Condensation and superfluidity of dilute Bose gases with finite-range interaction

We investigate an ultracold and dilute Bose gas by taking into account a finite-range two-body interaction. The coupling constants of the resulting Lagrangian density are related to measurable scattering parameters by following the effective-field-theory approach. A perturbative scheme is then developed up to the Gaussian level, where both quantum and thermal fluctuations are crucially affected by finite-range corrections. In particular, the relation between spontaneous symmetry breaking and the onset of superfluidity is emphasized by recovering the renowned Landau's equation for the superfluid density in terms of the condensate one.

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