arXiv subjects

Franco Dalfovo

Publications and source records attributed to Franco Dalfovo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dynamical stabilisation of a quantum fluid using a single topological defect

The size and shape of a quantum fluid in equilibrium is strongly influenced by the inter-particle interactions. In the attractive interaction regime, atomic quantum fluids ultimately collapse in a violent process that expels most of the particles from the macroscopically occupied state. Here, we use a quantum fluid of light in propagating geometry as an analogue to a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with large attractive interactions to show that non-trivial topology significantly alters the dynamical behaviour of the collapse, enhancing the BEC stability and delaying the collapse time by an order of magnitude. We measure direct experimental signatures of topology affecting quantum hydrodynamics, unveiling the inherent competition between attractive nonlinearities, that lead to the collapse, and the preservation of topological charge from a multi-charged vortex. We fully characterise the collapse process in coordinate space and the eventual `solitonification' of the system and connect it to the mode structure of the excitation spectrum.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2026

Temperature driven false vacuum decay in coherently coupled Bose superfluids

The relaxation of a quantum field from a metastable state (false vacuum) to a stable one (true vacuum), also known as false vacuum decay, is a fundamental problem in quantum field theory and cosmology. We study this phenomenon using a two-dimensional interacting and coherently coupled Bose-Bose mixture, a platform that has already been employed experimentally to investigate false vacuum decay in one dimension. In such a mixture, it is possible to define an effective magnetization that acts as a quantum field variable. Using the Stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SGPE), we prepare thermal equilibrium states in the false vacuum and extract decay rates from the magnetization dynamics. The decay rates show an exponential dependence on temperature, in line with the thermal theory of instantons. Since the SGPE is based on complex scalar fields, it also allows us to explore the behavior of the phase, which turns out to become dynamic during decay. Our results confirm the SGPE as an effective tool for studying coupled magnetization and phase dynamics and the associated instanton physics in ultracold quantum gases.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Parametric excitations in a harmonically trapped binary Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate parametric excitation and pattern formation in a harmonically trapped two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We assume the condensate to be in the miscible phase, but near the miscible-immiscible phase transition, where total density and spin density excitations are decoupled. By periodically modulating the atomic scattering lengths, Faraday patterns can be generated in both density and spin channels. In an elongated condensate, the pattern in the spin channel corresponds to a one-dimensional standing wave with the two components exhibiting an out-of-phase density oscillation, where the modulation frequency and the oscillation period are related to the velocity of the spin sound. After the spin pattern is fully developed, the system quickly enters a nonlinear destabilization regime. For a pancake-shaped condensate, a two-dimensional Faraday pattern is generated with an interesting l-fold rotational symmetry. The number of nodes along the radial and angular directions increases with larger modulation frequencies. We also compare the growth rates of spin Faraday patterns generated with different modulation protocols, which are accessible to current experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Superfluidity and sound propagation in disordered Bose gases

Superfluidity describes the ability of quantum matter to flow without friction. Due to its fundamental role in many transport phenomena, it is crucial to understand the robustness of superfluid properties to external perturbations. Here, we theoretically study the effects of speckle disorder on the propagation of sound waves in a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate at zero temperature. We numerically solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in the presence of disorder and employ a superfluid hydrodynamic approach to elucidate the role of the compressibility and superfluid fraction on the propagation of sound. A key result is that disorder reduces the superfluid fraction and hence the speed of sound; it also introduces damping and mode coupling. In the limit of weak disorder, the predictions for the speed of sound and its damping rate are well reproduced by a quadratic perturbation theory. The hydrodynamic description is valid over a wide range of parameters, while discrepancies become evident if the disorder becomes too strong, the effect being more significant for disorder applied in only one spatial direction. Our predictions are well within the reach of state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments and carry over to more general disorder potentials.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Finite temperature ferromagnetic transition in coherently coupled Bose gases

A paramagnetic-ferromagnetic quantum phase transition is known to occur at zero temperature in a two-dimensional coherently-coupled Bose mixture of dilute ultracold atomic gases provided the interspecies interaction strength is large enough. Here we study the fate of such a transition at finite temperature by performing numerical simulations with the stochastic (projected) Gross-Pitaevskii formalism, which includes both thermal and beyond mean-field effects. By extracting the average magnetization, the magnetic fluctuations and characteristic relaxation frequency (or, critical slowing down), we identify a finite temperature critical line for the transition. We find that the critical point shifts linearly with temperature and, in addition, the three quantities used to probe the transition exhibit a temperature power-law scaling. The scaling of the critical slowing down is found to be consistent with thermal critical exponents and is very well approximated by the square of the spin excitation gap at the zero-temperature.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Phase transition dimensionality crossover from two to three dimensions in a trapped ultracold atomic Bose gas

The equilibrium properties of a weakly interacting atomic Bose gas across the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) phase transitions are numerically investigated through a dimensionality crossover from two to three dimensions. The crossover is realised by confining the gas in an experimentally feasible hybridised trap which provides homogeneity along the planar xy-directions through a box potential in tandem with a harmonic transverse potential along the transverse z-direction. The dimensionality is modified by varying the frequency of the harmonic trap from tight to loose transverse trapping. Our findings, based on a stochastic (projected) Gross-Pitaevskii equation, showcase a continuous shift in the character of the phase transition from BKT to BEC, and a monotonic increase of the identified critical temperature as a function of dimensionality, with the strongest variation exhibited for small chemical potential values up to approximately twice the transverse confining potential

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Finite temperature spin dynamics of a two-dimensional Bose-Bose atomic mixture

We examine the role of thermal fluctuations in uniform two-dimensional binary Bose mixtures of dilute ultracold atomic gases. We use a mean-field Hartree-Fock theory to derive analytical predictions for the miscible-immiscible transition. A nontrivial result of this theory is that a fully miscible phase at $T=0$ may become unstable at $T\neq0$, as a consequence of a divergent behaviour in the spin susceptibility. We test this prediction by performing numerical simulations with the Stochastic (Projected) Gross-Pitaevskii equation, which includes beyond mean-field effects. We calculate the equilibrium configurations at different temperatures and interaction strengths and we simulate spin oscillations produced by a weak external perturbation. Despite some qualitative agreement, the comparison between the two theories shows that the mean-field approximation is not able to properly describe the behavior of the two-dimensional mixture near the miscible-immiscible transition, as thermal fluctuations smoothen all sharp features both in the phase diagram and in spin dynamics, except for temperature well below the critical temperature for superfluidity.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2020

Kibble-Zurek Dynamics in a Trapped Ultracold Bose Gas

The dynamical evolution of an inhomogeneous ultracold atomic gas quenched at different controllable rates through the Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition is studied numerically in the premise of a recent experiment in an anisotropic harmonic trap. Our findings based on the stochastic (projected) Gross-Pitaevskii equation are shown to be consistent at early times with the predictions of the homogeneous Kibble-Zurek mechanism. This is demonstrated by collapsing the early dynamical evolution of densities, spectral functions and correlation lengths for different quench rates, based on an appropriate characterization of the distance to criticality felt by the quenched system. The subsequent long-time evolution, beyond the identified dynamical critical region, is also investigated by looking at the behaviour of the density wavefront evolution and the corresponding phase ordering dynamics.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

Quench dynamics of an ultracold two-dimensional Bose gas

We study the dynamics of a two-dimensional Bose gas after an instantaneous quench of an initially ultracold thermal atomic gas across the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, confirming via stochastic simulations that the system undergoes phase ordering kinetics and fulfills dynamical scaling hypothesis at late-time dynamics. Specifically, we find in that regime the vortex number decaying in time as $\langle N_v \propto t^{-1}\rangle$, consistent with a dynamical critical exponent $z \approx 2$ for both temperature and interaction quenches. Focusing on finite-size box-like geometries, we demonstrate that such an observation is within current experimental reach.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Collisionless sound in a uniform two-dimensional Bose gas

Using linear response theory within the Random Phase Approximation, we investigate the propagation of sound in a uniform two dimensional (2D) Bose gas in the collisionless regime. We show that the sudden removal of a static density perturbation produces a damped oscillatory behavior revealing that sound can propagate also in the absence of collisions, due to mean-field interaction effects. Our analysis points out the crucial role played by Landau damping. We support our predictions by performing numerical simulations with the stochastic (projected) Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The results are consistent with the recent experimental observation of sound in a weakly interacting 2D Bose gas both below and above the superfluid Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Optical visibility and core structure of vortex filaments in a bosonic superfluid

We use optical images of a superfluid consisting of a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms to investigate the structure of quantized three-dimensional vortex filaments. We find that the measured optical contrast and the width of the vortex core quantitatively agree with the predictions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

Vortex reconnections and rebounds in trapped atomic Bose--Einstein condensates

Reconnections and interactions of filamentary coherent structures play a fundamental role in the dynamics of fluids, plasmas and nematic liquid crystals. In fluids, vortex reconnections redistribute energy and helicity among the length scales and induce fine-scale turbulent mixing. Unlike ordinary fluids where vorticity is a continuous field, in quantum fluids vorticity is concentrated into discrete (quantized) vortex lines turning vortex reconnections into isolated events, making it conceptually easier to study. Here we report experimental and numerical observations of three-dimensional quantum vortex interactions in a cigar-shaped atomic Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC). In addition to standard reconnections, already numerically and experimentally observed in homogeneous systems away from boundaries, we show that double reconnections, rebounds and ejections can also occur as a consequence of the non-homogeneous, confined nature of the system.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Dynamic structure factor of a strongly correlated Fermi superfluid within a density functional theory approach

We theoretically investigate the dynamic structure factor of a strongly interacting Fermi gas at the crossover from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluids to Bose-Einstein condensates, by developing an improved random phase approximation within the framework of a density functional theory - the so-called superfluid local density approximation. Compared with the previous random-phase-approximation studies based on the standard Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, the use of the density functional theory greatly improves the accuracy of the equation of state at the crossover, and leads to a better description of both collective Bogoliubov-Anderson-Goldstone phonon mode and single-particle fermionic excitations at small transferred momentum. Near unitarity, where the s-wave scattering length diverges, we show that the single-particle excitations start to significantly contribute to the spectrum of dynamic structure factor once the frequency is above a threshold of the energy gap at $2Δ$. The sharp rise in the spectrum at this threshold can be utilized to measure the pairing gap $Δ$. Together with the sound velocity determined from the phonon branch, the dynamic structure factor provides us some key information of the crossover Fermi superfluid. Our predictions could be examined in experiments with $^{6}$Li or $^{40}$K atoms using Bragg spectroscopy.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Dark-Bright Solitons in a Superfluid Bose-Fermi Mixture

The recent experimental realization of Bose-Fermi superfluid mixtures of dilute ultracold atomic gases has opened new perspectives in the study of quantum many-body systems. Depending on the values of the scattering lengths and the amount of bosons and fermions, a uniform Bose-Fermi mixture is predicted to exhibit a fully mixed phase, a fully separated phase or, in addition, a purely fermionic phase coexisting with a mixed phase. The occurrence of this intermediate configuration has interesting consequences when the system is nonuniform. In this work we theoretically investigate the case of solitonic solutions of coupled Bogoliubov-de Gennes and Gross-Pitaevskii equations for the fermionic and bosonic components, respectively. We show that, in the partially separated phase, a dark soliton in Fermi superfluid is accompanied by a broad bosonic component in the soliton, forming a dark-bright soliton which keeps full spatial coherence.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Creation and counting of defects in a temperature quenched Bose-Einstein Condensate

We study the spontaneous formation of defects in the order parameter of a trapped ultracold bosonic gas while crossing the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) at different rates. The system has the shape of an elongated ellipsoid, whose transverse width can be varied to explore dimensionality effects. For slow enough temperature quenches we find a power-law scaling of the average defect number with the quench rate, as predicted by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. A breakdown of such a scaling is found for fast quenches, leading to a saturation of the average defect number. We suggest an explanation for this saturation in terms of the mutual interactions among defects.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Multiple period states of the superfluid Fermi gas in an optical lattice

We study multiple period states of a two-component unpolarized superfluid Fermi gas in an optical lattice along the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) crossover. The existence of states whose period is a multiple of the lattice spacing is a direct consequence of the non-linear behavior of the gas, which is due to the presence of the order parameter associated with superfluidity. By solving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for a superfluid flow with finite quasimomentum, we find that, in the BCS side of the crossover, the multiple period states can be energetically favorable compared to the normal Bloch states and their survival time against dynamical instability drastically increases, suggesting that these states can be accessible in current experiments, in sharp contrast to the situation in BECs.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2015

Dynamics and interaction of vortex lines in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate

We study the real-time dynamics of vortex lines in a large elongated Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of sodium atoms using a stroboscopic technique. Vortices are spontaneously produced via the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a quench across the BEC transition and then they slowly precess keeping their orientation perpendicular to the long axis of the trap as expected for solitonic vortices in a highly anisotropic condensate. Good agreement with theoretical predictions is found for the precession period as a function of the orbit amplitude and the number of condensed atoms. In configurations with two or more vortex lines, we see signatures of vortex-vortex interaction in the shape and visibility of the orbits. In addition, when more than two vortices are present, their decay is faster than the thermal decay observed for one or two vortices. The possible role of vortex reconnection processes is discussed.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Solitonic Vortices in Bose-Einstein Condensates

We analyse, theoretically and experimentally, the nature of solitonic vortices (SV) in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate. In the experiment, such defects are created via the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, when the temperature of a gas of sodium atoms is quenched across the BEC transition, and are imaged after a free expansion of the condensate. By using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we calculate the in-trap density and phase distributions characterizing a SV in the crossover from an elongate quasi-1D to a bulk 3D regime. The simulations show that the free expansion strongly amplifies the key features of a SV and produces a remarkable twist of the solitonic plane due to the quantized vorticity associated with the defect. Good agreement is found between simulations and experiments.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗