arXiv subjects

Günter Wunner

Publications and source records attributed to Günter Wunner.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Harmonic inversion analysis of exceptional points in resonance spectra

The spectra of, e.g. open quantum systems are typically given as the superposition of resonances with a Lorentzian line shape, where each resonance is related to a simple pole in the complex energy domain. However, at exceptional points two or more resonances are degenerate and the resulting non-Lorentzian line shapes are related to higher order poles in the complex energy domain. In the Fourier-transform time domain an $n$-th order exceptional point is characterised by a non-exponentially decaying time signal given as the product of an exponential function and a polynomial of degree $n-1$. The complex positions and amplitudes of the non-degenerate resonances can be determined with high accuracy by application of the nonlinear harmonic inversion method to the real-valued resonance spectra. We extend the harmonic inversion method to include the analysis of exceptional points. The technique yields, in the energy domain, the amplitudes of the higher order poles contributing to the spectra, and, in the time domain, the coefficients of the polynomial characterising the non-exponential decay of the time signal. The extended harmonic inversion method is demonstrated on two examples, viz. the analysis of exceptional points in resonance spectra of the hydrogen atom in crossed magnetic and electric fields, and an exceptional point occurring in the dynamics of a single particle in a time-dependent harmonic trap.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2014

A Bose-Einstein Condensate with $\mathcal{PT}$-Symmetric Double-Delta Function Loss and Gain in a Harmonic Trap: A Test of Rigorous Estimates

We consider the linear and nonlinear Schrödinger equation for a Bose-Einstein condensate in a harmonic trap with $\cal {PT}$-symmetric double-delta function loss and gain terms. We verify that the conditions for the applicability of a recent proposition by Mityagin and Siegl on singular perturbations of harmonic oscillator type self-adjoint operators are fulfilled. In both the linear and nonlinear case we calculate numerically the shifts of the unperturbed levels with quantum numbers $n$ of up to 89 in dependence on the strength of the non-Hermiticity and compare with rigorous estimates derived by those authors. We confirm that the predicted $1/n^{1/2}$ estimate provides a valid upper bound on the the shrink rate of the numerical eigenvalues. Moreover, we find that a more recent estimate of $\log(n)/n^{3/2}$ is in excellent agreement with the numerical results. With nonlinearity the shrink rates are found to be smaller than without nonlinearity, and the rigorous estimates, derived only for the linear case, are no longer applicable.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Stability of Bose-Einstein condensates in a $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetric double-$δ$ potential close to branch points

A Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a double-well potential, where atoms are incoupled to one side and extracted from the other, can in the mean-field limit be described by the nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with a $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetric external potential. If the strength of the in- and outcoupling is increased two $\mathcal{PT}$ broken states bifurcate from the $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetric ground state. At this bifurcation point a stability change of the ground state is expected. However, it is observed that this stability change does not occur exactly at the bifurcation but at a slightly different strength of the in-/outcoupling effect. We investigate a Bose-Einstein condensate in a $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetric double-$δ$ potential and calculate the stationary states. The ground state's stability is analysed by means of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations and it is shown that the difference in the strength of the in-/outcoupling between the bifurcation and the stability change can be completely explained by the norm-dependency of the nonlinear term in the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates in triple-well potentials

Dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates in triple-well potentials are well-suited model systems for periodic optical potentials with important contributions of the non-local and anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction, which show a variety of effects such as self-organisation and formation of patterns. We address here a macroscopic sample of dipolar bosons in the mean-field limit. This work is based on the Gross-Pitaevskii description of dipolar condensates in triple-well potentials by Peter et al 2012 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 45 225302. Our analysis goes beyond the calculation of ground states presented there and clarifies the role of excited and metastable states in such systems. In particular, we find the formation of phases originating from the interplay of several states with distinct stability properties. As some of the phases are formed by metastable states special attention is paid to the characteristics of phase transitions in real-time and the dynamical stabilisation of the condensate.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Transition states and thermal collapse of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate thermally excited, dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates. Quasi-particle excitations of the atomic cloud cause density fluctuations which can induce the collapse of the condensate if the inter-particle interaction is attractive. Within a variational approach, we identify the collectively excited stationary states of the gas which form transition states on the way to the BEC's collapse. We analyze transition states with different $m$-fold rotational symmetry and identify the one which mediates the collapse. The latter's symmetry depends on the trap aspect ratio of the external trapping potential which determines the shape of the BEC. Moreover, we present the collapse dynamics of the BEC and calculate the corresponding decay rate using transition state theory. We observe that the thermally induced collapse mechanism is important near the critical scattering length, where the lifetime of the condensate can be significantly reduced. Our results are valid for an arbitrary strength of the dipole-dipole interaction. Specific applications are discussed for the elements $^{52}$Cr, $^{164}$Dy and $^{168}$Er with which dipolar BECs have been experimentally realized.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Hartree-Fock calculations for the photoionisation of helium and helium-like ions in neutron star magnetic fields

We derive the photoionisation cross section in dipole approximation for many-electron atoms and ions for neutron star magnetic field strengths in the range of 10^7 to 10^9 T. Both bound and continuum states are treated in adiabatic approximation in a self-consistent way. Bound states are calculated by solving the Hartree-Fock-Roothaan equations using finite-element and B-spline techniques while the continuum orbital is calculated by direct integration of the Hartree-Fock equations in the mean-field potential of the remaining bound orbitals. We take into account mass and photon density in the neutron star's atmosphere, finite nuclear mass as well as thermal occupation of the levels. The data may be of importance for the quantitative interpretation of observed x-ray spectra that originate from the thermal emission of isolated neutron stars. They can serve as input for modeling neutron star atmospheres as regards chemical composition, magnetic field strength, temperature, and redshift. Our main focus in this paper lies on helium and helium-like oxygen. These two-electron systems are simple enough to calculate all possible transitions when limiting the quantum numbers and should show all the basic structures and behaviour of other two-electron systems up to iron.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Eigenvalue structure of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a PT-symmetric double well

We study a Bose-Einstein condensate in a PT-symmetric double-well potential where particles are coherently injected in one well and removed from the other well. In mean-field approximation the condensate is described by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation thus falling into the category of nonlinear non-Hermitian quantum systems. After extending the concept of PT symmetry to such systems, we apply an analytic continuation to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation from complex to bicomplex numbers and show a thorough numerical investigation of the four-dimensional bicomplex eigenvalue spectrum. The continuation introduces additional symmetries to the system which are confirmed by the numerical calculations and furthermore allows us to analyze the bifurcation scenarios and exceptional points of the system. We present a linear matrix model and show the excellent agreement with our numerical results. The matrix model includes both exceptional points found in the double-well potential, namely an EP2 at the tangent bifurcation and an EP3 at the pitchfork bifurcation. When the two bifurcation points coincide the matrix model possesses four degenerate eigenvectors. Close to that point we observe the characteristic features of four interacting modes in both the matrix model and the numerical calculations, which provides clear evidence for the existence of an EP4.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Hermitian four-well potential as a realization of a PT-symmetric system

A PT-symmetric Bose-Einstein condensate can be theoretically described using a complex optical potential, however, the experimental realization of such an optical potential describing the coherent in- and outcoupling of particles is a nontrivial task. We propose an experiment for a quantum mechanical realization of a PT-symmetric system, where the PT-symmetric currents of a two-well system are implemented by coupling two additional wells to the system, which act as particle reservoirs. In terms of a simple four-mode model we derive conditions under which the two middle wells of the Hermitian four-well system behave exactly as the two wells of the PT-symmetric system. We apply these conditions to calculate stationary solutions and oscillatory dynamics. By means of frozen Gaussian wave packets we relate the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to the four-mode model and give parameters required for the external potential, which provides approximate conditions for a realistic experimental setup.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Bifurcations and exceptional points in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

Bose-Einstein condensates are described in a mean-field approach by the nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation and exhibit phenomena of nonlinear dynamics. The eigenstates can undergo bifurcations in such a way that two or more eigenvalues and the corresponding wave functions coalesce at critical values of external parameters. E.g. in condensates without long-range interactions a stable and an unstable state are created in a tangent bifurcation when the scattering length of the contact interaction is varied. At the critical point the coalescing states show the properties of an exceptional point. In dipolar condensates fingerprints of a pitchfork bifurcation have been discovered by Rau et al. [Phys. Rev. A, 81:031605(R), 2010]. We present a method to uncover all states participating in a pitchfork bifurcation, and investigate in detail the signatures of exceptional points related to bifurcations in dipolar condensates. For the perturbation by two parameters, viz. the scattering length and a parameter breaking the cylindrical symmetry of the harmonic trap, two cases leading to different characteristic eigenvalue and eigenvector patterns under cyclic variations of the parameters need to be distinguished. The observed structures resemble those of three coalescing eigenfunctions obtained by Demange and Graefe [J. Phys. A, 45:025303, 2012] using perturbation theory for non-Hermitian operators in a linear model. Furthermore, the splitting of the exceptional point under symmetry breaking in either two or three branching singularities is examined. Characteristic features are observed when one, two, or three exceptional points are encircled simultaneously.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Circular orbits in the extreme Reissner-Nordstrøm dihole metric

We study the motion of neutral test particles in the gravitational field of two charged black holes described by the extreme Reissner-Nordstrøm dihole metric where the masses and charges of the black holes are chosen such that the gravitational attraction is compensated by the electrostatic repulsion. We investigate circular orbits in the equatorial plane between the two black holes with equal masses as well as the case of circular orbits outside this symmetry plane. We show that the first case reduces to an effective two-body problem with a behavior similar to a system described by the Reissner-Nordstrøm spacetime. The main focus is directed to the second case with circular orbits outside the equatorial plane.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

A variational approach to Bogoliubov excitations and dynamics of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate the stability properties and the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates with axial symmetry, especially with dipolar long-range interaction, using both simulations on grids and variational calculations. We present an extended variational ansatz which is applicable for axial symmetry and show that this ansatz can reproduce the lowest eigenfrequencies of the Bogoliubov spectrum, and also the corresponding eigenfunctions. Our variational ansatz is capable of describing the roton instability of pancake-shaped dipolar condensates for arbitrary angular momenta. After investigating the linear regime we apply the ansatz to determine the dynamics and show how the angular collapse is correctly described within the variational framework.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Macroscopic quantum tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates with long-range interaction

The ground state of Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive particle interaction is metastable. One of the decay mechanisms of the condensate is a collapse by macroscopic quantum tunneling, which can be described by the bounce trajectory as solution of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation in imaginary time. For condensates with an electromagnetically induced gravity-like interaction the bounce trajectory is computed with an extended variational approach using coupled Gaussian functions and simulated numerically exact within the mean-field approach on a space-time lattice. It is shown that the variational computations converge very rapidly to the numerically exact result with increasing number of Gaussians. The tunneling rate of the condensate is obtained from the classical action and additional parameters of the bounce trajectory. The converged variational and numerically exact results drastically improve by several orders of magnitude the decay rates obtained previously with a simple variational approach using a single Gaussian-type orbital for the condensate wave function.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Collisions of anisotropic two-dimensional bright solitons in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate the coherent collision of anisotropic quasi-two-dimensional bright solitons in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates. Our analysis is based on the extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation, and we use the split-operator method for the grid calculations and the time-dependent variational principle with an ansatz of coupled Gaussian functions to calculate the time evolution of the ground state. We compare the results of both approaches for collisions where initially the solitons are in the repelling side-by-side configuration and move towards each other with a specific momentum. We change the relative phases of the condensates, and introduce a total angular momentum by shifting the solitons in opposite direction along the polarization axis. Our calculations show that collisions result in breathing-mode-like excitations of the solitons.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Quantum-classical lifetimes of Rydberg molecules

A remarkable property of Rydberg atoms is the possibility to create molecules formed by one highly excited atom and another atom in the ground state. The first realisation of such a Rydberg molecule has opened an active field of physical investigations, and showed that its basic properties can be described within a simple model regarding the ground state atom as a small perturber that is bound by a low-energy scattering process with the Rydberg electron [C. H. Greene et al, Phys. Rev. Lett., 85: 2458 (2000)]. Besides the good agreement between theory and the experiment concerning the vibrational states of the molecule, the experimental observations yield the astonishing feature that the lifetime of the molecule is clearly reduced as compared to the bare Rydberg atom [B. Butscher et al, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 44, 184004 (2011)]. With focus on this yet unexplained observation, we investigate in this paper the vibrational ground state of the molecule in a quantum-classical framework. We show that the Rydberg wave function is continuously detuned by the presence of the moving ground state atom and that the timescale on which the detuning significantly exceeds the natural linewidth is in good agreement with the observed reduced lifetimes of the Rydberg molecule.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Symmetry-breaking thermally induced collapse of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate a Bose-Einstein condensate with additional long-range dipolar interaction in a cylindrically symmetric trap within a variational framework. Compared to the ground state of this system, little attention has as yet been payed to its unstable excited states. For thermal excitations, however, the latter is of great interest, because it forms the "activated complex" that mediates the collapse of the condensate. For a certain value of the s-wave scatting length our investigations reveal a bifurcation in the transition state, leading to the emergence of two additional and symmetry-breaking excited states. Because these are of lower energy than their symmetric counterpart, we predict the occurrence of a symmetry-breaking thermally induced collapse of dipolar condensates. We show that its occurrence crucially depends on the trap geometry and calculate the thermal decay rates of the system within leading order transition state theory with the help of a uniform rate formula near the rank-2 saddle which allows to smoothly pass the bifurcation.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Nonlinear Schrödinger equation for a PT symmetric delta-functions double well

The time-independent nonlinear Schrödinger equation is solved for two attractive delta-function shaped potential wells where an imaginary loss term is added in one well, and a gain term of the same size but with opposite sign in the other. We show that for vanishing nonlinearity the model captures all the features known from studies of PT symmetric optical wave guides, e.g., the coalescence of modes in an exceptional point at a critical value of the loss/gain parameter, and the breaking of PT symmetry beyond. With the nonlinearity present, the equation is a model for a Bose-Einstein condensate with loss and gain in a double well potential. We find that the nonlinear Hamiltonian picks as stationary eigenstates exactly such solutions which render the nonlinear Hamiltonian itself PT symmetric, but observe coalescence and bifurcation scenarios different from those known from linear PT symmetric Hamiltonians.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Quantum-classical model for the formation of Rydberg molecules

A fascinating aspect of Rydberg atoms is their ability to form huge but very weakly bound molecules with a ground state atom, only held together by a scattering process between the latter and the Rydberg electron. Beyond the usual way of creating such molecules by laser excitation from two ground state atoms with a distance of less than the Rydberg radius, we demonstrate that Rydberg molecules can also be formed by capturing a ground state atom which is initially located outside the range of the Rydberg atom when it comes in contact with it. To demonstrate this effect, we investigate the scattering process between the Rydberg electron and the ground state atom within a quantum-classical framework. In this picture capturing results from a dissipative finite-mass correction term in the classical equations of motion. We show that and under which conditions the capturing takes place.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Relation between the eigenfrequencies of Bogoliubov excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates and the eigenvalues of the Jacobian in a time-dependent variational approach

We study the relation between the eigenfrequencies of the Bogoliubov excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates, and the eigenvalues of the Jacobian stability matrix in a variational approach which maps the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to a system of equations of motion for the variational parameters. We do this for Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive contact interaction in an external trap, and for a simple model of a self-trapped Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive 1/r interaction. The stationary solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and Bogoliubov excitations are calculated using a finite-difference scheme. The Bogoliubov spectra of the ground and excited state of the self-trapped monopolar condensate exhibits a Rydberg-like structure, which can be explained by means of a quantum defect theory. On the variational side, we treat the problem using an ansatz of time-dependent coupled Gaussians combined with spherical harmonics. We first apply this ansatz to a condensate in an external trap without long-range interaction, and calculate the excitation spectrum with the help of the time-dependent variational principle. Comparing with the full-numerical results, we find a good agreement for the eigenfrequencies of the lowest excitation modes with arbitrary angular momenta. The variational method is then applied to calculate the excitations of the self-trapped monopolar condensates, and the eigenfrequencies of the excitation modes are compared.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗