arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Sandro Wimberger.
We present detailed numerical results on the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a tilted periodic optical lattice over many Bloch periods. We show that an increasing atom-atom interaction systematically affects coherent tunneling, and eventually destroys the resonant tunneling peaks.
We examine the effect of the initial atomic momentum distribution on the dynamics of the atom-optical realisation of the quantum kicked rotor. The atoms are kicked by a pulsed optical lattice, the periodicity of which implies that quasi-momentum is conserved in the transport problem. We study and compare experimentally and theoretically two resonant limits of the kicked rotor: in the vicinity of the quantum resonances and in the semiclassical limit of vanishing kicking period. It is found that for the same experimental distribution of quasi-momenta, significant deviations from the kicked rotor model are induced close to quantum resonance, while close to the classical resonance (i.e. for small kicking period) the effect of the quasi-momentum vanishes.
We present mean energy measurements for the atom optics kicked rotor as the kicking period tends to zero. A narrow resonance is observed marked by quadratic energy growth, in parallel with a complete freezing of the energy absorption away from the resonance peak. Both phenomena are explained by classical means, taking proper account of the atoms' initial momentum distribution.
Our realistic numerical results show that the fundamental and higher-order quantum resonances of the delta-kicked rotor are observable in state-of-the-art experiments with a Bose condensate in a shallow harmonic trap, kicked by a spatially periodic optical lattice. For stronger confinement, interaction-induced destruction of the resonant motion of the kicked harmonic oscillator is predicted.
We present experimental measurements of the mean energy in the vicinity of the first and second quantum resonances of the atom optics kicked rotor for a number of different experimental parameters. Our data is rescaled and compared with the one parameter epsilon--classical scaling function developed to describe the quantum resonance peaks. Additionally, experimental data is presented for the ``classical'' resonance which occurs in the limit as the kicking period goes to zero. This resonance is found to be analogous to the quantum resonances, and a similar one-parameter classical scaling function is derived, and found to match our experimental results. The width of the quantum and classical resonance peaks is compared, and their Sub-Fourier nature examined.
We analyze the effects of a nonlinear cubic perturbation on the delta-Kicked Rotor. We consider two different models, in which the nonlinear term acts either in the position or in the momentum representation. We numerically investigate the modifications induced by the nonlinearity in the quantum transport in both localized and resonant regimes and a comparison between the results for the two models is presented. Analyzing the momentum distributions and the increase of the mean square momentum, we find that the quantum resonances asymptotically are very stable with respect to the nonlinear perturbation of the rotor's phase evolution. For an intermittent time regime, the nonlinearity even enhances the resonant quantum transport, leading to superballistic motion.
The quantum resonances occurring with delta-kicked particles are studied with the help of a fictitious classical limit, establishing a direct correspondence between the nearly resonant quantum motion and the classical resonances of a related system. A scaling law which characterizes the structure of the resonant peaks is derived and numerically demonstrated.
The effect of decoherence, induced by spontaneous emission, on the dynamics of cold atoms periodically kicked by an optical lattice is experimentally and theoretically studied. Ideally, the mean energy growth is essentially unaffected by weak decoherence, but the resonant momentum distributions are fundamentally altered. It is shown that experiments are inevitably sensitive to certain nontrivial features of these distributions, in a way that explains the puzzle of the observed enhancement of resonances by decoherence [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 074102 (2001)]. This clarifies both the nature of the coherent evolution, and the way in which decoherence disrupts it.
The quantum resonances occurring with delta-kicked atoms when the kicking period is an integer multiple of the half-Talbot time are analyzed in detail. Exact results about the momentum distribution at exact resonance are established, both in the case of totally coherent dynamics and in the case when decoherence is induced by Spontaneous Emission. A description of the dynamics when the kicking period is close to, but not exactly at resonance, is derived by means of a quasi-classical approximation where the detuning from exact resonance plays the role of the Planck constant. In this way scaling laws describing the shape of the resonant peaks are obtained. Such analytical results are supported by extensive numerical simulations, and explain some recent surprising experimental observations.
We establish a close quantitative analogy between the excitation and ionization process of highly excited one electron Rydberg states under microwave driving and charge transport across disordered 1D lattices. Our results open a new arena for Anderson localization - a disorder induced effect - in a large class of perfectly deterministic, decaying atomic systems.
We provide the first statistical analysis of the decay rates of strongly driven 3D atomic Rydberg states. The distribution of the rates exhibits universal features due to Anderson localization, while universality of the time dependent decay requires particular initial conditions.
A statistical analysis of the ionization yield of one-dimensional, periodically driven hydrogen Rydberg states is provided. We find excellent agreement with predictions for the conductance across an Anderson-localized, quasi one-dimensional, disordered wire, in the semiclassical limit of highly excited atomic initial states.
We provide a statistical characterization of the ionization yield of one-dimensional, periodically driven Rydberg states of atomic hydrogen, in the spirit of Anderson localization theory. We find excellent agreement with predictions for the conductance across an Anderson localized, quasi one-dimensional, disordered wire, in the semiclassical limit of highly excited atomic initial states. For the moderate atomic excitations typically encountered in state of the art laboratory experiments, finite-size effects induce significant deviations from the solid-state picture. However, large scale fluctuations of the atomic conductance prevail and are robust when averaged over a finite interval of driving field amplitudes, as inevitably done in the experiment.