arXiv subjects

Christian Baals

Publications and source records attributed to Christian Baals.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

A Kapitza Pendulum for Ultracold Atoms

We report on the experimental realization of a Kapitza pendulum for ultracold atoms. Using time-periodic attractive and repulsive Gaussian potentials, we create an effective trap for ultracold neutral atoms in a regime where the time average of the potential is equal to zero. We analyze the role of experimental imperfections, the stability of the trapped atomic cloud, and the magnitude of the effective potential. We find good agreement with the high-frequency expansion of the underlying system dynamics. Our experimental approach opens up new possibilities to study Floquet systems of neutral atoms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Experimental observation of a dissipative phase transition in a multi-mode many-body quantum system

We characterize the dissipative phase transition in a driven dissipative Bose-Einstein condensate of neutral atoms. Our results generalize the work on dissipative nonlinear Kerr resonators towards many modes and stronger interactions. We measure the effective Liouvillian gap and analyze the microscopic system dynamics, where we identify a non-equilibrium condensation process.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2020

Stability analysis and attractor dynamics of 3D dark solitons with localized dissipation

We study the stability and the attractor dynamics of an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate with dark or grey kink solitons in the presence of localized dissipation. To this end, the 3D Gross-Pitaevskii equation with an additional imaginary potential is solved numerically. We analyze the suppression of the snaking instability in dependence of the dissipation strength and extract the threshold value for the stabilization of the dark soliton for experimentally realistic parameters. Below the threshold value, we observe the decay into a solitonic vortex. Above the stabilization threshold, we observe the attractor dynamics towards the dark soliton when initially starting from a grey soliton. We find that for all initial conditions the dark soliton is the unique steady-state of the system - even when starting from the BEC ground state.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

The Talbot effect in the presence of interactions

We study both experimentally and theoretically, considering bosonic atoms in a periodic potential, the influence of interactions in a Talbot interferometer. While interactions decrease the contrast of the revivals, we find that over a wide range of interactions the Talbot signal is still proportional to the phase coherence of the matter wave field. Our results confirm that Talbot interferometry can be a useful tool to study finite range phase correlations in an optical lattice even in the presence of interactions. The relative robustness of the Talbot signal is supported by the first demonstration of the three-dimensional Talbot effect.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear matter waves

Coherent perfect absorption is the complete extinction of incoming radiation by a complex potential in a physical system supporting wave propagation. The concept was proven for linear waves in variety of systems including light interacting with absorbing scatterers, plasmonic metasurfaces and graphene films, as well as sound waves. We extend the paradigm to coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear waves and experimentally demonstrate it for matter waves in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Coherent absorption of nonlinear matter waves is achieved easier than its linear analogs because the strength of two-body interactions offers additional freedom for control. Implementation of the coherent perfect absorber of Bose-Einstein condensates paves the way towards broad exploitation of the phenomenon in nonlinear optics, exciton-polariton condensates, acoustics, and other areas of nonlinear physics. It also opens perspectives for designing atomic laser.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Nonlinear standing waves in an array of coherently coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

Stationary solitary waves are studied in an array of $M$ linearly-coupled one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) by means of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Solitary wave solutions with the character of overlapping dark solitons, Josephson vortex - antivortex arrays, and arrays of half-dark solitons are constructed for $M>2$ from known solutions for two coupled BECs. Additional solutions resembling vortex dipoles and rarefaction pulses are found numerically. Stability analysis of the solitary waves reveals that overlapping dark solitons can become unstable and susceptible to decay into arrays of Josephson vortices. The Josephson vortex arrays have mixed stability but for all parameters we find at least one stationary solitary wave configuration that is dynamically stable. The different families of nonlinear standing waves bifurcate from one another. In particular we demonstrate that Josephson-vortex arrays bifurcate from dark soliton solutions at instability thresholds. The stability thresholds for dark soliton and Josephson-vortex type solutions are provided, suggesting the feasibility of realization with optical lattice experiments.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

Measuring finite-range phase coherence in an optical lattice using Talbot interferometry

One of the important goals of present research is to control and manipulate coherence in a broad variety of systems, such as semiconductor spintronics, biological photosynthetic systems, superconducting qubits and complex atomic networks. Over the past decades interferometry of atoms and molecules has proven to be a powerful tool to explore coherence. Here we demonstrate a near-field interferometer based on the Talbot effect, which allows to measure finite-range phase coherence of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We apply this interferometer to study the build-up of phase coherence after a quantum quench of a Bose-Einstein condensate residing in a one-dimensional optical lattice. Our technique of measuring finite-range phase coherence is generic, easy to adopt, and can be applied in practically all lattice experiments without further modifications.

quant-ph↗