arXiv subjects

Charles W. Clark

Publications and source records attributed to Charles W. Clark.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Topological Insulators and Metals in Atomic Optical Lattices

We propose the realization of topological quantum states with cold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. We discuss an experimental setup that generates a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in the presence of a light-induced periodic vector potential, which represents a realization of the Haldane model with cold atoms. We determine theoretically the conditions necessary for observing the topological states and show that two of the key conditions are: 1) the realization of sharp boundaries and 2) the minimization of any smoothly varying component of the confining potential. We argue that, unlike their condensed matter counterparts, cold atom topological quantum states can be i) "seen", by mapping out the characteristic chiral edge states, and ii) controlled, by controlling the periodic vector potential and the properties of the confining potential.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Creating a supersolid in one-dimensional Bose mixtures

We identify a one-dimensional supersolid phase in a binary mixture of near-hardcore bosons with weak, local inter-species repulsion. We find realistic conditions under which such a phase, defined here as the coexistence of quasi-superfluidity and quasi-charge density wave order, can be produced and observed in finite ultra-cold atom systems in a harmonic trap. Our analysis is based on Luttinger liquid theory supported with numerical calculations using the time-evolving block decimation method. Clear experimental signatures of these two orders can be found, respectively, in time-of-flight interference patterns, and the structure factor S(k) derived from density correlations.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2008

Phase transitions, entanglement and quantum noise interferometry in cold atoms

We show that entanglement monotones can characterize the pronounced enhancement of entanglement at a quantum phase transition if they are sensitive to long-range high order correlations. These monotones are found to develop a sharp peak at the critical point and to exhibit universal scaling. We demonstrate that similar features are shared by noise correlations and verify that these experimentally accessible quantities indeed encode entanglement information and probe separability.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Observation of the n(3He,t)p Reaction by Detection of Far-Ultraviolet Radiation

We have detected Lyman alpha radiation as a product of the n(3He,t)p nuclear reaction occurring in a cell of 3He gas. The predominant source of this radiation appears to be decay of the 2p state of tritium produced by charge transfer and excitation collisions with the background 3He gas. Under the experimental conditions reported here we find yields of tens of Lyman alpha photons for every neutron reaction. These results suggest a method of cold neutron detection that is complementary to existing technologies that use proportional counters. In particular, this approach may provide single neutron sensitivity with wide dynamic range capability, and a class of neutron detectors that are compact and operate at relatively low voltages.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2007

Observing Zitterbewegung in Ultracold Atoms

We propose an optical lattice scheme which would permit the experimental observation of Zitterbewegung (ZB) with ultracold, neutral atoms. A four-level "tripod" variant of the usual setup for stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) has been proposed for generating non-Abelian gauge fields [1]. Dirac-like Hamiltonians, which exhibit ZB, are simple examples of such non-Abelian gauge fields; we show how a variety of them can arise, and how ZB can be observed, in a tripod system. We predict that the ZB should occur at experimentally accessible frequencies and amplitudes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Tunneling phase gate for neutral atoms in a double-well lattice

We propose a new two--qubit phase gate for ultra--cold atoms confined in an experimentally realized tilted double--well optical lattice [Sebby--Strabley et al., Phys. Rev. A {\bf 73} 033605 (2006)]. Such a lattice is capable of confining pairs of atoms in a two--dimensional array of double--well potentials where control can be exercised over the barrier height and the energy difference of the minima of the two wells (known as the ``tilt''). The four lowest single--particle motional states consist of two pairs of motional states in which each pair is localized on one side of the central barrier, allowing for two atoms confined in such a lattice to be spatially separated qubits. We present a time--dependent scheme to manipulate the tilt to induce tunneling oscillations which produce a collisional phase gate. Numerical simulations demonstrate that this gate can be performed with high fidelity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Experimentally accessible reentrant phase transitions in double-well optical lattices

We study the quantum phases of bosons confined in a combined potential of a one-dimensional double-well optical lattice and a parabolic trap. We apply the time-evolving block decimation method to the corresponding two-legged Bose-Hubbard model. In the absence of a parabolic trap, the system of bosons in the double-well optical lattice exhibits a reentrant quantum phase transition between Mott insulator and superfluid phases at unit filling as the tilt of the double-wells is increased. We show that the reentrant phase transition occurs also in the presence of a parabolic trap and suggest that it can be detected in experiments by measuring the matter-wave interference pattern.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2007

Two-Dimensional Electron Gas with Cold Atoms in Non-Abelian Gauge Potentials

Motivated by the possibility of creating non-Abelian fields using cold atoms in optical lattices, we explore the richness and complexity of non-interacting two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) in a lattice, subjected to such fields. In the continuum limit, a non-Abelian system characterized by a two-component "magnetic flux" describes a harmonic oscillator existing in two different charge states (mimicking a particle-hole pair) where the coupling between the states is determined by the non-Abelian parameter, namely the difference between the two components of the "magnetic flux." A key feature of the non-Abelian system is a splitting of the Landau energy levels, which broaden into bands, as the spectrum depends explicitly on the transverse momentum. These Landau bands result in a coarse-grained "moth," a continuum version of the generalized Hofstadter butterfly. Furthermore, the bands overlap, leading to effective relativistic effects. Importantly, similar features also characterize the corresponding two-dimensional lattice problem when at least one of the components of the magnetic flux is an irrational number. The lattice system with two competing "magnetic fluxes" penetrating the unit cell provides a rich environment in which to study localization phenomena. Some unique aspects of the transport properties of the non-Abelian system are the possibility of inducing localization by varying the quasimomentum, and the absence of localization of certain zero-energy states exhibiting a linear energy-momentum relation. Furthermore, non-Abelian systems provide an interesting localization scenario where the localization transition is accompanied by a transition from relativistic to non-relativistic theory.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Blackbody radiation shift in a 43Ca+ ion optical frequency standard

Motivated by the prospect of an optical frequency standard based on 43Ca+, we calculate the blackbody radiation (BBR) shift of the 4s_1/2-3d_5/2 clock transition, which is a major component of the uncertainty budget. The calculations are based on the relativistic all-order single-double method where all single and double excitations of the Dirac-Fock wave function are included to all orders of perturbation theory. Additional calculations are conducted for the dominant contributions in order to evaluate some omitted high-order corrections and estimate the uncertainties of the final results. The BBR shift obtained for this transition is 0.38(1) Hz. The tensor polarizability of the 3d_5/2 level is also calculated and its uncertainty is evaluated as well. Our results are compared with other calculations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Magic wavelengths for the np-ns transitions in alkali-metal atoms

Extensive calculations of the electric-dipole matrix elements in alkali-metal atoms are conducted using the relativistic all-order method. This approach is a linearized version of the coupled-cluster method, which sums infinite sets of many-body perturbation theory terms. All allowed transitions between the lowest ns, np_1/2, np_3/2 states and a large number of excited states are considered in these calculations and their accuracy is evaluated. The resulting electric-dipole matrix elements are used for the high-precision calculation of frequency-dependent polarizabilities of the excited states of alkali-metal atoms. We find magic wavelengths in alkali-metal atoms for which the ns and np_1/2 and np_3/2 atomic levels have the same ac Stark shifts, which facilitates state-insensitive optical cooling and trapping.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2007

Accurate determination of electric-dipole matrix elements in K and Rb from Stark shift measurements

Stark shifts of potassium and rubidium D1 lines have been measured with high precision by Miller et al [1]. In this work, we combine these measurements with our all-order calculations to determine the values of the electric-dipole matrix elements for the 4p_j-3d_j' transitions in K and for the 5p_j-4d_j' transitions in Rb to high precision. The 4p_1/2-3d_3/2 and 5p_1/2-4d_3/2 transitions contribute on the order of 90% to the respective polarizabilities of the np_1/2 states in K and Rb, and the remaining 10% can be accurately calculated using the relativistic all-order method. Therefore, the combination of the experimental data and theoretical calculations allows us to determine the np-(n-1)d matrix elements and their uncertainties. We compare these values with our all-order calculations of the np-(n-1)d matrix elements in K and Rb for a benchmark test of the accuracy of the all-order method for transitions involving nd states. Such matrix elements are of special interest for many applications, such as determination of magic wavelengths in alkali-metal atoms for state-insensitive cooling and trapping and determination of blackbody radiation shifts in optical frequency standards with ions.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2007

Detector dead-time effects and paralyzability in high-speed quantum key distribution

Recent advances in quantum key distribution (QKD) have given rise to systems that operate at transmission periods significantly shorter than the dead times of their component single-photon detectors. As systems continue to increase in transmission rate, security concerns associated with detector dead times can limit the production rate of sifted bits. We present a model of high-speed QKD in this limit that identifies an optimum transmission rate for a system with given link loss and detector response characteristics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Quantum phases of bosons in double-well optical lattices

We study the superfluid to Mott insulator transition of bosons in a two-legged ladder optical lattice, of a type accessible in current experiments on double-well optical lattices. The zero-temperature phase diagram is mapped out, with a focus on its dependence upon interchain hopping and the tilt between double wells. We find that the unit-filling Mott phase exhibits a non-monotonic behavior as a function of the tilt parameter, producing a reentrant phase transition between Mott insulator and superfluid phases.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2006

Lifshitz-like transition and enhancement of correlations in a rotating bosonic ring lattice

We study the effects of rotation on one-dimensional ultra-cold bosons confined to a ring lattice. For commensurate systems, at a critical value of the rotation frequency, an infinitesimal interatomic interaction energy opens a gap in the excitation spectrum, fragments the ground state into a macroscopic superposition of two states with different circulation and generates a sudden change in the topology of the momentum distribution. These features are reminiscent of the topological changes in the Fermi surface that occurs in the Lifshitz transition in fermionic systems. The entangled nature of the ground state induces a strong enhancement of quantum correlations and decreases the threshold for the Mott insulator transition. In contrast to the commensurate case, the incommensurate lattice is rather insensitive to rotation. Our studies demonstrate the utility of noise correlations as a tool for identifying new physics in strongly correlated systems.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2006

Vortices and Ring Solitons in Bose-Einstein Condensates

The form and stability properties of axisymmetric and spherically symmetric stationary states in two and three dimensions, respectively, are elucidated for Bose-Einstein condensates. These states include the ground state, central vortices, and radial excitations of both. The latter are called ring solitons in two dimensions and spherical shells in three. The nonlinear Schrodinger equation is taken as the fundamental model; both extended and harmonically trapped condensates are considered. It is found that the presence of a vortex stabilizes ring solitons in a harmonic trap, in contrast to the well known instability of such solutions in the optics context. This is the first known example of a dark soliton in the cubic nonlinear Schrodinger equation which is stable in a number of dimensions greater than one.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2006

Metal-Insulator Transition Revisited for Cold Atoms in Non-Abelian Gauge Potentials

We discuss the possibility of realizing metal-insulator transitions with ultracold atoms in two-dimensional optical lattices in the presence of artificial gauge potentials. Such transitions have been extensively studied for magnetic fields corresponding to Abelian gauges; they occur when the magnetic flux penetrating the lattice plaquette is an irrational multiple of the magnetic flux quantum. Here we present the first study of these transitions for non-Abelian U(2) gauge fields, which can be realized with atoms with two pairs of degenerate internal states. In contrast to the Abelian case, the spectrum and localization transition in the non-Abelian case is strongly influenced by atomic momenta. In addition to determining the localization boundary, the momentum fragments the spectrum and the minimum energy viewed as a function of momentum exhibits a step structure. Other key characteristics of the non-Abelian case include the absence of localization for certain states and satellite fringes around the Bragg peaks in the momentum distribution and an interesting possibility that the transition can be tuned by the atomic momenta.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2006

Hanbury Brown-Twiss Interferometry for Fractional and Integer Mott Phases

Hanbury-Brown-Twiss interferometry (HBTI) is used to study integer and fractionally filled Mott Insulator (MI) phases in period-2 optical superlattices. In contrast to the quasimomentum distribution, this second order interferometry pattern exhibits high contrast fringes in the it insulating phases. Our detailed study of HBTI suggests that this interference pattern signals the various superfluid-insulator transitions and therefore can be used as a practical method to determine the phase diagram of the system. We find that in the presence of a confining potential the insulating phases become robust as they exist for a finite range of atom numbers. Furthermore, we show that in the trapped case the HBTI interferogram signals the formation of the MI domains and probes the shell structure of the system.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2006

Vortices in attractive Bose-Einstein condensates in two dimensions

The form and stability of quantum vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive atomic interactions is elucidated. They appear as ring bright solitons, and are a generalization of the Townes soliton to nonzero winding number $m$. An infinite sequence of radially excited stationary states appear for each value of $m$, which are characterized by concentric matter-wave rings separated by nodes, in contrast to repulsive condensates, where no such set of states exists. It is shown that robustly stable as well as unstable regimes may be achieved in confined geometries, thereby suggesting that vortices and their radial excited states can be observed in experiments on attractive condensates in two dimensions.

cond-mat.other↗