arXiv subjects

Luca Salasnich

Publications and source records attributed to Luca Salasnich.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Tunable zero and first sounds in ultracold Fermi gases with Rabi coupling

We consider a weakly-interacting fermionic gas of alkali-metal atoms characterized by two hyper- fine states which are Rabi coupled. By using a Hartree approximation for the repulsive interaction we determine the zero-temperature equation of state of this Fermi gas in D spatial dimensions (D = 1, 2, 3). Then, adopting the Landau-Vlasov equation and hydrodynamic equations, we investi- gate the speed of first sound and zero sound. We show that the two sounds, which occur respectively in collisional and collisionless regimes, crucially depend on the interplay between interaction strength and Rabi coupling. Finally, we discuss for some experimentally relevant cases the effect of a trapping harmonic potential on the density profiles of the fermionic system.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Dynamical spin properties of confined Fermi and Bose systems in presence of spin-orbit coupling

Due to the recent experimental progress, tunable spin-orbit (SO) interactions represent ideal candidates for the control of polarization and dynamical spin properties in both quantum wells and cold atomic systems. A detailed understanding of spin properties in SO coupled systems is thus a compelling prerequisite for possible novel applications or improvements in the context of spintronics and quantum computers. Here we analyze the case of equal Rashba and Dresselhaus couplings in both homogeneous and laterally confined two-dimensional systems. Starting from the single-particle picture and subsequently introducing two-body interactions we observe that periodic spin fluctuations can be induced and maintained in the system. Through an analytical derivation we show that the two-body interaction does not involve decoherence effects in the bosonic dimer, and, in the repulsive homogeneous Fermi gas it may be even exploited in combination with the SO coupling to induce and tune standing currents. By further studying the effects of a harmonic lateral confinement --a particularly interesting case for Bose condensates-- we evidence the possible appearance of non-trivial {\it spin textures}, whereas the further application of a small Zeeman-type interaction can be exploited to fine-tune the system polarizability.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Quantum correlations of few dipolar bosons in a double-well trap

We consider $N$ interacting dipolar bosonic atoms at zero temperature in a double-well potential. This system is described by the two-space-mode extended Bose-Hubbard (EBH) Hamiltonian which includes (in addition to the familiar BH terms) the nearest-neighbor interaction, correlated hopping and bosonic-pair hopping. For systems with $N=2$ and $N=3$ particles we calculate analytically both the ground state and the Fisher information, the coherence visibility, and the entanglement entropy that characterize the correlations of the lowest energy state. The structure of the ground state crucially depends on the correlated hopping $K_c$. On one hand we find that this process makes possible the occurrence of Schrödinger-cat states even if the onsite interatomic attraction is not strong enough to guarantee the formation of such states. On the other hand, in the presence of a strong onsite attraction, sufficiently large values of $|K_c|$ destroys the cat-like state in favor of a delocalized atomic coherent state.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Shock waves in a quasi one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate

We study analytically and numerically the generation of shock waves in a quasi one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) made of dilute and ultracold alkali-metal atoms. For the BEC we use an equation of state based on a 1D nonpolynomial Schrodinger equation (1D NPSE), which takes into account density modulations in the transverse direction and generalizes the familiar 1D Gross-Pitaevskii equation (1D GPE). Comparing 1D NPSE with 1D GPE we find quantitative differences in the dynamics of shock waves regarding the velocity of propagation, the time of formation of the shock, and the wavelength of after-shock dispersive ripples.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2015

Quenched dynamics of the momentum distribution of the unitary Bose gas

We study the quenched dynamics of the momentum distribution of a unitary Bose gas under isotropic harmonic confinement within a time-dependent density functional approach based on our recently calculated Monte Carlo (MC) bulk equation of state. In our calculations the inter-atomic s-wave scattering length of the trapped bosons is suddenly increased to a very large value and the real-time evolution of the system is studied. Prompted by the very recent experimental data of $^{85}$Rb atoms at unitarity [Nature Phys. 10, 116 (2014)] we focus on the momentum distribution as a function of time. Our results suggest that at low momenta, a quasi-stationary momentum distribution is reached after a long transient, contrary to what found experimentally for large momenta which equilibrate on a time scale shorter than the one for three body losses.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Discrete bright solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates and dimensional reduction in quantum field theory

We first review the derivation of an effective one-dimensional (1D) discrete nonpolynomial Schrödinger equation from the continuous 3D Gross-Pitaevskii equation with transverse harmonic confinement and axial periodic potential. Then we study the bright solitons obtained from this discrete nonpolynomial equation showing that they give rise to the collapse of the condensate above a critical attractive strength. We also investigate the dimensional reduction of a bosonic quantum field theory, deriving an effective 1D nonpolynomial Heisenberg equation from the 3D Heisenberg equation of the continuous bosonic field operator under the action of transverse harmonic confinement. Moreover, by taking into account the presence of an axial periodic potential we find a generalized Bose-Hubbard model which reduces to the familiar 1D Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian only if a strong inequality is satisfied. Remarkably, in the absence of axial periodic potential our 1D nonpolynomial Heisenberg equation gives the generalized Lieb-Liniger theory we obtained some years ago.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Polarization of a quasi two-dimensional repulsive Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling: a variational study

Motivated by the remarkable experimental control of synthetic gauge fields in ultracold atomic systems, we investigate the effect of an artificial Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the spin polarization of a two-dimensional repulsive Fermi gas. By using a variational many-body wavefunction, based on a suitable spinorial structure, we find that the polarization properties of the system are indeed controlled by the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and repulsive interaction. In particular, two main effects are found: 1) The Rashba coupling determines a gradual increase of the degree of polarization beyond the critical repulsive interaction strength, at variance with conventional 2D Stoner instability. 2) The critical interaction strength, above which finite polarization is developed, shows a dependence on the Rashba coupling, i.e. it is enhanced in case the Rashba coupling exceeds a critical value. A simple analytic expression for the critical interaction strength is further derived in the context of our variational formulation, which allows for a straightforward and insightful analysis of the present problem.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Analytical results on quantum correlations of few bosons in a double-well trap

We consider a finite number $N$ of interacting bosonic atoms at zero temperature confined in a one-dimensional double-well trap and study this system by using the two-site Bose-Hubbard (BH) Hamiltonian. For systems with $N=2$ and $N=3$, and $N=4$ bosons we analytically solve the eigenproblem associated to this Hamiltonian and find its lowest energetic state. We investigate the structure of the ground state by varying the strength of the boson-boson interaction from the strongly attractive regime to the deep repulsive one. We characterize the ground state of the two-site BH Hamiltonian by calculating the Fisher information $F$, the coherence visibility $α$, and the entanglement entropy $S$. For these quantities we provide analytical formulas that we use to study $F$, $α$, and $S$ as functions of the interaction between the particles. We discuss the difference existing, in the deep repulsive regime, between the case with an even number of bosons and that with an odd number of particles, both in the structure of the lowest energetic state and in the behavior of the three above ground-state characterizing parameters

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Localized modes in quasi-2D Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit and Rabi couplings

We consider a two-component pancake-shaped, i.e., effectively two-dimensional (2D), Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) coupled by the spin-orbit (SO) and Rabi terms. The SO coupling adopted here is of the mixed Rashba-Dresselhaus type. For this configuration, we derive a system of two 2D nonpolynomial Schrödinger equations (NPSEs), for both attractive and repulsive interatomic interactions. In the low- and high-density limits, the system amounts to previously known models, namely, the usual 2D Gross-Pitaevskii equation, or the Schrödinger equation with the nonlinearity of power 7/3. We present simple approximate localized solutions, obtained by treating the SO and Rabi terms as perturbations. Localized solutions of the full NPSE system are obtained in a numerical form. Remarkably, in the case of the attractive nonlinearity acting in free space (i.e., without any 2D trapping potential), we find parameter regions where the SO and Rabi couplings make 2D fundamental solitons dynamically stable.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Emulation of lossless exciton-polariton condensates by dual-core optical waveguides: Stability, collective modes, and dark solitons

We propose a possibility to simulate the exciton-polariton (EP) system in the lossless limit, which is not currently available in semiconductor microcavities, by means of a simple optical dual-core waveguide, with one core carrying the nonlinearity and operating close to the zero-group-velocity-dispersion (GVD) point, and the other core being linear and dispersive. Both 2D and 1D EP systems may be emulated by means of this optical setting. In the framework of this system, we find that, while the uniform state corresponding to the lower branch of the nonlinear dispersion relation is stable against small perturbations, the upper branch is always subject to the modulational instability (MI). The stability and instability are verified by direct simulations too. We analyze collective excitations on top of the stable lower-branch state, which include a Bogoliubov-like gapless mode and a gapped one. Analytical results are obtained for the corresponding sound velocity and energy gap. The effect of a uniform phase gradient (superflow) on the stability is considered too, with a conclusion that the lower-branch state becomes unstable above a critical wavenumber of the flux. Finally, we demonstrate that the stable 1D state may carry robust dark solitons.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Density functional theory of a trapped Bose gas with tunable scattering length: from weak-coupling to unitarity

We study an interacting Bose gas at T=0 under isotropic harmonic confinement within Density Functional Theory in the Local Density approximation. The energy density functional, which spans the whole range of positive scattering lengths up to the unitary regime (infinite scattering length), is obtained by fitting the recently calculated Monte Carlo bulk equation of state [Phys. Rev. A 89, 041602(R) (2014)]. We compare the density profiles of the trapped gas with those obtained by MC calculations. We solve the time-dependent Density Functional equation to study the effect of increasing values of the interaction strength on the frequencies of monopole and quadrupole oscillations of the trapped gas. We find that the monopole breathing mode shows a non-monotonous behavior as a function of the scattering length. We also consider the damping effect of three-body losses on such modes.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

The effect of a laser dip in the semiclassical dynamics of bosonic Josephson Junctions

We consider the standard double well setup extended with a laser beam in the center to create a "triple well" potential. The beam in the center is much more narrow than the barrier, and it creates a tunable depth well which can support a localized state in the middle. We show that the presence of the localized state in the central well changes the sign of tunneling between the left and right wells and therefore controls the fixed point dynamics of the bosonic Josephson junction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Quantum bright solitons in a quasi-one-dimensional optical lattice

We study a quasi-one-dimensional attractive Bose gas confined in an optical lattice with a superimposed harmonic potential by analyzing the effective one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian of the system. In order to have a reliable description of the ground-state, that we call quantum bright soliton, we use the Density-Matrix-Renormalization-Group (DMRG) technique. By comparing DMRG results with mean-field (MF) ones we find that beyond-mean-field effects become relevant by increasing the attraction between bosons or by decreasing the frequency of the harmonic confinement. In particular we discover that, contrary to the MF predictions based on the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation, quantum bright solitons are not self-trapped. We also use the time-evolving-block-decimation (TEBD) method to investigate dynamical properties of bright solitons when the frequency of the harmonic potential is suddenly increased. This quantum quench induces a breathing mode whose period crucially depends on the final strength of the super-imposed harmonic confinement.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Monte Carlo Simulations of the Unitary Bose Gas

We investigate the zero-temperature properties of a diluted homogeneous Bose gas made of $N$ particles interacting via a two-body square-well potential by perfor ming Monte Carlo simulations. We tune the interaction strength to achieve arbitrary positive values of the scattering length and compute by Monte Carlo quadrature the energy per particle $E/N$ and the condensate fraction $N_0/N$ of this system by using a Jastrow ansatz for the many-body wave function which avoids the formation of the self-bound ground-state and describes instead a (metastable) gaseous state with uniform den sity. In the unitarity limit, where the scattering length diverges while the range of the inter-atomic potential is much smaller than the average distance between atoms, we find a finite energy per particle ($E/N=0.70\ \hbar^2(6π^2n)^{2/3}/2m$, with $n$ th e number density) and a quite large condensate fraction ($N_0/N=0.83$).

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Superfluid hydrodynamics of polytropic gases:dimensional reduction and sound velocity

Motivated by the fact that two-component confined fermionic gases in Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer-Bose-Einstein condensate (BCS-BEC) crossover can be described through an hydrodynamical approach, we study these systems - both in the cigar-shaped configuration and in the disk-shaped one - by using a polytropic Lagrangian density. We start from the Popov Lagrangian density and obtain, after a dimensional reduction process, the equations that control the dynamics of such systems. By solving these equations we study the sound velocity as a function of the density by analyzing how the dimensionality affects this velocity

math-ph↗

arXiv2013

Two-dimensional quasi-ideal Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We investigate the zero-temperature properties of a quasi-ideal Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We find that the spin-orbit term strongly affects the speeds of zero sound and first sound in the Fermi gas, due to the presence of a third-order quantum phase transition. In addition, including a 2D harmonic confinement we show that also the shape of the density profile of the cloud crucially depends on the strength of the Rashba coupling.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Path-Integral Ground-State and Superfluid Hydrodynamics of a Bosonic Gas of Hard Spheres

We study a bosonic gas of hard spheres by using of the exact zero-temperature Path-Integral Ground-State (PIGS) Monte Carlo method and the equations of superfluid hydrodynamics. The PIGS method is implemented to calculate for the bulk system the energy per particle and the condensate fraction through a large range of the gas parameter $na^3$ (with $n$ the number density and $a$ the s--wave scattering length), going from the dilute gas into the solid phase. The Maxwell construction is then adopted to determine the freezing at $na^3=0.278\pm 0.001$ and the melting at $na^3=0.286\pm 0.001$. In the liquid phase, where the condensate fraction is finite, the equations of superfluid hydrodynamics, based on the PIGS equation of state, are used to find other relevant quantities as a function of the gas parameter: the chemical potential, the pressure and the sound velocity. In addition, within the Feynman's approximation, from the PIGS static structure factor we determine the full excitation spectrum, which displays a maxon-roton behavior when the gas parameter is close to the freezing value. Finally, the equations of superfluid hydrodynamics with the PIGS equation of state are solved for bosonic system under axially--symmetric harmonic confinement obtaining its collective breathing modes.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Fermionic condensation in ultracold atoms, nuclear matter and neutron stars

We investigate the Bose-Einstein condensation of fermionic pairs in three different superfluid systems: ultracold and dilute atomic gases, bulk neutron matter, and neutron stars. In the case of dilute gases made of fermionic atoms the average distance between atoms is much larger than the effective radius of the inter-atomic potential. Here the condensation of fermionic pairs is analyzed as a function of the s-wave scattering length, which can be tuned in experiments by using the technique of Feshbach resonances from a small and negative value (corresponding to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) regime of Cooper Fermi pairs) to a small and positive value (corresponding to the regime of the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of molecular dimers), crossing the unitarity regime where the scattering length diverges. In the case of bulk neutron matter the s-wave scattering length of neutron-neutron potential is negative but fixed, and the condensate fraction of neutron-neutron pairs is studied as a function of the total neutron density. Our results clearly show a BCS-quasiunitary-BCS crossover by increasing the neutron density. Finally, in the case of neutron stars, where again the neutron-neutron scattering length is negative and fixed, we determine the condensate fraction as a function of the distance from the center of the neutron star, finding that the maximum condensate fraction appears in the crust of the neutron star.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗