arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K. Burnett.
We describe the quantum state of a Bose-Einstein condensate at zero temperature. By evaluating the Q-function we show that the ground state of Bose-Einstein condensate under the Hartree approximation is squeezed. We find that multimode Schroedinger cat states are generated as the condensate evolves in a ballistic expansion.
We estimate the amount of temperature-dependent squeezing and entanglement in the collective excitations of trapped Bose-Einstein condensates. We also demonstrate an alternative method of temperature measurement for temperatures much less that the critical temperature.
We investigate the relative particle number squeezing produced in the excited states of a weakly interacting condensate at zero temperature by stimulated light scattering using a pair of lasers. We shall show that a modest number of relative number squeezed particles can be achieved when atoms with momentum $k$, produced in pairs through collisions in the condensate, are scattered out by their interaction with the lasers. This squeezing is optimal when the momentum $k$ is larger than the inverse healing length, $k>k_0$. This modest number of relative number squeezed particles has the potential to be amplified in four-wave-mixing experiments.
We propose a method to probe states in the Mott insulator regime produced from a condensate in an optical lattice. We consider a system in which we create time-dependent number fluctuations in a given site by turning off the atomic interactions and lowering the potential barriers on a nearly pure Mott state to allow the atoms to tunnel between sites. We calculate the expected interference pattern and number fluctuations from such a system and show that one can potentially observe a deviation from a pure Mott state. We also discuss a method in which to detect these number fluctuations using time-of-flight imaging.
We consider many-body effects on particle scattering in one, two and three dimensional Bose gases. We show that at zero temperature these effects can be modelled by the simpler two-body T-matrix evaluated off the energy shell. This is important in 1D and 2D because the two-body T-matrix vanishes at zero energy and so mean-field effects on particle energies must be taken into account to obtain a self-consistent treatment of low energy collisions. Using the off-shell two-body T-matrix we obtain the energy and density dependence of the effective interaction in 1D and 2D and the appropriate Gross-Pitaevskii equations for these dimensions. We present numerical solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a 2D condensate of hard-sphere bosons in a trap. We find that the interaction strength is much greater in 2D than for a 3D gas with the same hard-sphere radius. The Thomas-Fermi regime is therefore approached at lower condensate populations and the energy required to create vortices is lowered compared to the 3D case.
We present a study of the superfluid properties of atomic Bose gases in optical lattice potentials using the Bose-Hubbard model. To do this, we use a microscopic definition of the superfluid fraction based on the response of the system to a phase variation imposed by means of twisted boundary conditions. We compare the superfluid fraction to other physical quantities, i.e., the interference pattern after ballistic expansion, the quasi-momentum distribution, and number fluctuations. We have performed exact numerical calculations of all these quantities for small one-dimensional systems. We show that the superfluid fraction alone exhibits a clear signature of the Mott-insulator transition. Observables like the fringe visibility, which probe only ground state properties, do not provide direct information on superfluidity and the Mott-insulator transition.
We demonstrate that the time-dependent projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation derived earlier [Davis, et al., J. Phys. B 34, 4487 (2001)] can represent the highly occupied modes of a homogeneous, partially-condensed Bose gas. We find that this equation will evolve randomised initial wave functions to equilibrium, and compare our numerical data to the predictions of a gapless, second-order theory of Bose-Einstein condensation [S. A. Morgan, J. Phys. B 33, 3847 (2000)]. We find that we can determine the temperature of the equilibrium state when this theory is valid. Outside the range of perturbation theory we describe how to measure the temperature of our simulations. We also determine the dependence of the condensate fraction and specific heat on temperature for several interaction strengths, and observe the appearance of vortex networks. As the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is non-perturbative, we expect that it can describe the correct thermal behaviour of a Bose gas as long as all relevant modes are highly occupied.
The influence of disorder on ultracold atomic Bose gases in quasiperiodic optical lattices is discussed in the framework of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model. It is shown that simple periodic modulations of the well depths generate a rich phase diagram consisting of superfluid, Mott insulator, Bose-glass and Anderson localized phases. The detailed evolution of mean occupation numbers and number fluctuations as function of modulation amplitude and interaction strength is discussed. Finally, the signatures of the different phases, especially of the Bose-glass phase, in matter-wave interference experiments are investigated.
We investigate the limitations arising from atomic collisions on the storage and delay times of probe pulses in EIT experiments. We find that the atomic collisions can be described by an effective decay rate that limits storage and delay times. We calculate the momentum and temperature dependence of the decay rate and find that it is necessary to excite atoms at a particular momentum depending on temperature and spacing of the energy levels involved in order to minimize the decoherence effects of atomic collisions.
We develop an approximate formalism suitable for performing simulations of the thermal dynamics of interacting Bose gases. The method is based on the observation that when the lowest energy modes of the Bose field operator are highly occupied, they may be treated classically to a good approximation. We derive a finite temperature Gross-Pitaevskii equation for these modes which is coupled to an effective reservoir described by quantum kinetic theory. We discuss each of the terms that arise in this Gross-Pitaevskii equation, and their relevance to experimental systems. We then describe a simpler projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation that may be useful in simulating thermal Bose condensates. This classical method could be applied to other Bose fields.
We study possible scenarios for quantum non-demolition measurements using Bose-Einstein condensates. We show that the interactions between condensate atoms makes it possible to measure the atom number with minimal back action on the system. This is an example of atomic nonlinear optics that has significant implications in the quantum state preparation of the Bose condensates.
We introduce a time-dependent projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation to describe a partially condensed homogeneous Bose gas, and find that this equation will evolve randomised initial wave functions to equilibrium. We compare our numerical data to the predictions of a gapless, second order theory of Bose-Einstein condensation [S. A. Morgan, J. Phys. B {\bf 33}, 3847 (2000)], and find that we can determine a temperature when the theory is valid. As the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is non-perturbative, we expect that it can describe the correct thermal behaviour of a Bose gas as long as all relevant modes are highly occupied. Our method could be applied to other boson fields.
We study the limitations to the relative number squeezing between photons and atoms coupled out from a homogeneous Bose-Einstein-Condensate. We consider the coupling between the translational atomic states by two photon Bragg processes, with one of the photon modes involved in the Bragg process in a coherent state, and the other initially unpopulated. We start with an interacting Bose- condensate at zero temperature and compute the time evolution for the system. We study the squeezing, i.e. the variance of the occupation number difference between the second photon and the atomic c.m. mode. We discuss how collisions between the atoms and photon rescattering affect the degree of squeezing which may be reached in such experiments.
We propose an ``interferometric'' scheme for Bose-Einstein condensates using near-field diffraction. The scheme is based on the phenomenon of intermode traces or quantum carpets; we show how it may be used in the detection of weak forces.
We develop a general theory of adiabatic output coupling from trapped atomic Bose-Einstein Condensates at finite temperatures. For weak coupling, the output rate from the condensate, and the excited levels in the trap, settles in a time proportional to the inverse of the spectral width of the coupling to the output modes. We discuss the properties of the output atoms in the quasi-steady-state where the population in the trap is not appreciably depleted. We show how the composition of the output beam, containing condensate and thermal component, may be controlled by changing the frequency of the output coupler. This composition determines the first and second order coherence of the output beam. We discuss the changes in the composition of the bose gas left in the trap and show how nonresonant output coupling can stimulate either the evaporation of thermal excitations in the trap or the growth of non-thermal excitations, when pairs of correlated atoms leave the condensate.
Simulations of a rotationally stirred condensate show that a regime of simple behaviour occurs in which a single vortex cycles in and out of the condensate. We present a simple quantitative model of this behaviour, which accurately describes the full vortex dynamics, including a critical angular speed of stirring for vortex formation. A method for experimentally preparing a condensate in a central vortex state is suggested.
A straight forward numerical technique, based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, is used to generate a self-consistent description of thermally-excited states of a dilute boson gas. The process of evaporative cooling is then modelled by following the time evolution of the system using the same equation. It is shown that the subsequent rethermalisation of the thermally-excited state produces a cooler coherent condensate. Other results presented show that trapping vortex states with the ground state may be possible in a two-dimensional experimental environment.
We develop an extension of the well-known BCS-theory to systems with trapped fermions. The theory fully includes the quantized energy levels in the trap. The key ingredient is to model the attractive interaction between two atoms by a pseudo-potential which leads to a well defined scattering problem and consequently a BCS-theory free of divergences. We present numerical results for the BCS critical temperature and the temperature dependence of the gap. They are used as a test of existing semi-classical approximations.