arXiv subjects

Zeng-Qiang Yu

Publications and source records attributed to Zeng-Qiang Yu.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Quantum Criticality of Liquid-Gas Transition in a Binary Bose Mixture

Quantum liquid, in the form of a self-bound droplet, is stabilized by a subtle balance between the mean-field contribution and quantum fluctuations. While a liquid-gas transition is expected when such a balance is broken, it remains elusive whether liquid-gas critical points exist in the quantum regime. Here we study the quantum criticality in a binary Bose mixture undergoing the liquid-gas transition. We show that, beyond a narrow stability window of the self-bound liquid, a liquid-gas coexistence persists, which eventually transits into a homogeneous mixture. Importantly, we identify two distinct critical points where the liquid-gas coexistence terminates. These critical points are characterized by rich critical behaviors in their vicinity, including divergent susceptibility, unique phonon-mode softening, and enhanced density correlations. The liquid-gas transition and the critical points can be readily explored in ultracold atoms confined to a box potential. Our work highlights the thermodynamic approach as a powerful tool in revealing the quantum liquid-gas criticality, and paves the way for further studies of critical phenomena in quantum liquids.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

First-order Bose-Einstein condensation with three-body interacting bosons

Bose-Einstein condensation, observed in either strongly interacting liquid helium or weakly interacting atomic Bose gases, is widely known to be a second-order phase transition. Here, we predict a first-order Bose-Einstein condensation in a cloud of harmonically trapped bosons interacting with both attractive two-body interaction and repulsive three-body interaction, characterized respectively by an $s$-wave scattering length $a<0$ and a three-body scattering hypervolume $D>0$. It happens when the harmonic trapping potential is weak, so with increasing temperature the system changes from a low-temperature liquid-like quantum droplet to a normal gas, and therefore experiences a first-order liquid-to-gas transition. At large trapping potential, however, the quantum droplet can first turn into a superfluid gas, rendering the condensation transition occurred later from a superfluid gas to a normal gas smooth. We determine a rich phase diagram and show the existence of a tri-critical point, where the three phases - quantum droplet, superfluid gas and normal gas - meet together. We argue that an ensemble of spin-polarized tritium atoms could be a promising candidate to observe the predicted first-order Bose-Einstein condensation, across which the condensate fraction or central condensate density jumps to zero and the surface-mode frequencies diverge.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

Normal-Superfluid Phase Separation in Spin-Half Bosons at Finite Temperature

For pseudospin-half bosons with inter-spin attraction and intra-spin repulsion, normal phase and Bose condensed phase can coexist at finite temperature. The homogeneous system is unstable against the spinodal decomposition within a medium density interval, and consequently, a normal-superfluid phase separation takes place. The isothermal equation-of-state shows a characteristic plateau in the P-V (pressure-volume) diagram, which is reminiscent of a classical gas-liquid transition, although, unlike the latter, the coexistence lines never terminate at a critical point as temperature increases. In a harmonic trap, the phase separation can be revealed by the density profile of the atomic cloud, which exhibits a sudden jump across the phase boundary.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

Collective excitation of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate with spin-orbit coupling

We investigate the collective excitations of a Raman-induced spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a quasi one-dimension harmonic trap using the Bogoliubov method. By tuning the Raman coupling strength, three phases of the system can be identified. By calculating the transition strength, we are able to classify various excitation modes that are experimentally relevant. We show that the three quantum phases possess distinct features in their collective excitation properties. In particular, the spin dipole and the spin breathing modes can be used to clearly map out the phase boundaries. We confirm these predictions by direct numerical simulations of the quench dynamics that excites the relevant collective modes.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

Landau's criterion for an anisotropic Bose-Einstein condensate

In this work, we discuss the Landau's criterion for anisotropic superfluidity. To this end, we consider a point-like impurity moving in a uniform Bose-Einstein condensate with either interparticle dipole-dipole interaction or Raman induced spin-orbit coupling. In both cases, we find that the Landau critical velocity $v_{\rm c}$ is generally smaller than the sound velocity in the moving direction. Beyond $v_{\rm c}$, the energy dissipation rate is explicitly calculated via a perturbation approach. In the plane-wave phase of a spin-orbit coupled Bose gas, the dissipationless motion is suppressed by the Raman coupling even in the direction orthogonal to the recoil momentum. Our predictions can be tested in the experiments with ultracold atoms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Superfluid Density of a Spin-orbit Coupled Bose Gas

We discuss the superfluid properties of a Bose-Einstein condensed gas with spin-orbit coupling, recently realized in experiments. We find a finite normal fluid density $\rho_n$ at zero temperature which turns out to be a function of the Raman coupling. In particular, the entire fluid becomes normal at the transition point from the zero momentum to the plane wave phase, even though the condensate fraction remains finite. We emphasize the crucial role played by the gapped branch of the elementary excitations and discuss its contributions to various sum rules. Finally, we prove that an independent definition of superfluid density $\rho_s$, using the phase twist method, satisfies the equality $\rho_n+\rho_s=\rho$, the total density, despite the breaking of Galilean invariance.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2015

Phase transitions and elementary excitations in spin-1 Bose gases with Raman-induced spin-orbit coupling

We study the ground state phase diagram and the quantum phase transitions in spin-1 Bose gases with Raman induced spin-orbit coupling. In addition to the Bose-Einstein condensates with uniform density, three types of stripe condensation phases that simultaneously break the U(1) symmetry and the translation symmetry are identified. The transitions between these phases are investigated, and the occurrences of the various tricritical points are predicted. The excitation spectra in the plane-wave phase and the zero-momentum phase show rich roton-maxon structures, and their instabilities indicate the tendency to develop the crystalline order. We propose the atomic gas of $^{23}$Na could be a candidate for observing the stripe condensate with high contrast fringes.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Equation of state and phase transition in spin-orbit-coupled Bose gases at finite temperature: A perturbation approach

We study two-component Bose gases with Raman induced spin-orbit coupling via a perturbation approach at finite temperature. For weak coupling, free energy is expanded in terms of Raman coupling strength up to the second order, where the coefficient (referred to as Raman susceptibility) is determined according to linear response theory. The equation of state for the stripe phase and the plane-wave phase are obtained in Popov approximation, and the first order transition between these two phases is investigated. As temperature increases, we find the phase boundary bends toward the stripe phase side in most temperature regions, which implies the ferromagnetic order is more robust than the crystalline order in presence of thermal fluctuations. Our results qualitatively agree with the recent experimental observation in rubidium atomic gases. A method to measure the Raman susceptibility through the two-photon Bragg scattering experiment is also discussed.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Ground-state phase diagram and critical temperature of two-component Bose gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Ground-state phase diagram of two-component Bose gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling is determined via a variational approach. A phase in which the fully polarized condensate occupies zero momentum is identified. This zero-momentum phase competes with the spin density wave phase when interspecies interaction is stronger than intraspecies interaction, and the former one is always the ground state for weak spin-orbit coupling. When the energies of these two phases are close, there is a phase separation between them. At finite temperature, such a zero-momentum condensation can be induced by a ferromagnetic phase transition in normal state. The spontaneous spin polarization removes the degeneracy of quasiparticles' energy minima, and consequently the modified density of state accommodates a Bose condensation to appear below a critical temperature.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Properties of Bose Gases with Raman-Induced Spin-Orbit Coupling

In this paper we investigate the properties of Bose gases with Raman-induced spin-orbit(SO) coupling. It is found that the SO coupling can greatly modify the single particle density-of-state, and thus lead to non-monotonic behavior of the condensate depletion, the Lee-Huang-Yang correction of ground-state energy and the transition temperature of a non-interacting Bose-Einstein condensate. The presence of the SO coupling also breaks the Galilean invariance, and this gives two different critical velocities, corresponding to the movement of the condensate and the impurity respectively. Finally, we show that with SO coupling, the interactions modify the BEC transition temperature even at Hartree-Fock level, in contrast to the ordinary Bose gas without SO coupling. All results presented here can be directly verified in the current cold atom experiments using Raman laser-induced gauge field.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Spin-Orbit Coupled Degenerate Fermi Gases

Spin-orbit coupling plays an increasingly important role in the modern condensed matter physics. For instance, it gives birth to topological insulators and topological superconductors. Quantum simulation of spin-orbit coupling using ultracold Fermi gases will offer opportunities to study these new phenomena in a more controllable setting. Here we report the first experimental study of a spin-orbit coupled Fermi gas. We observe spin dephasing in spin dynamics and momentum distribution asymmetry in the equilibrium state as hallmarks of spin-orbit coupling. We also observe evidences of Lifshitz transition where the topology of Fermi surfaces change. This serves as an important first step toward finding Majorana fermions in this system.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Spin-Orbit Coupled Fermi Gases across a Feshbach Resonance

In this letter we study both ground state properties and the superfluid transition temperature of a spin-1/2 Fermi gas across a Feshbach resonance with a synthetic spin-orbit coupling, using mean-field theory and exact solution of two-body problem. We show that a strong spin-orbit coupling can significantly enhance the pairing gap for 1/(k_F a_s)<=0 due to increased density-of-state. Strong spin-orbit coupling also significantly enhances the superfluid transition temperature when 1/(k_F a_s)<=0, while suppresses it slightly when 1/(k_F a_s)>0. The universal interaction energy and pair size at resonance are also discussed.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Stability Condition of a Strongly Interacting Boson-Fermion Mixture across an Inter-Species Feshbach Resonance

We study the properties of dilute bosons immersed in a single component Fermi sea across a broad boson-fermion Feshbach resonance. The stability of the mixture requires that the bare interaction between bosons exceeds a critical value, which is a universal function of the boson-fermion scattering length, and exhibits a maximum in the unitary region. We calculate the quantum depletion, momentum distribution and the boson contact parameter across the resonance. The transition from condensate to molecular Fermi gas is also discussed.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Induced interaction in a spin-polarized Fermi gas

We study the effect of the induced interaction on the superfluidtransition temperature of a spin-polarized Fermi gas. In the BCS limit, the polarization is very small in the superfluid state, and the effect of the induced interaction is almost the same as in the spin-balanced case. The temperature Tt and the polarization Pt of the tricritical point are both reduced from mean-field results by a factor about 2.22. This reduction is also significant beyond the BCS limit. In the unitary limit, we find (Pt,Tt/TF)=(0.42,0.16), in comparison with mean-field and experimental results.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Collinear antiferromagnetic state in a two-dimensional Hubbard model at half filling

In a half-filled Hubbard model on a square lattice, the next-nearest-neighbor hopping causes spin frustration, and the collinear antiferromagnetic (CAF) state appears as the ground state with suitable parameters. We find that there is a metal-insulator transition in the CAF state at a critical on-site repulsion. When the repulsion is small, the CAF state is metallic, and a van Hove singularity can be close to the Fermi surface, resulting in either a kink or a discontinuity in the magnetic moment. When the on-site repulsion is large, the CAF state is a Mott insulator. A first-order transition from the CAF phase to the antiferromagnetic phase and a second-order phase transition from the CAF phase to the paramagnetic phase are obtained in the phase diagram at zero temperature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Molecular Bose-Einstein condensation in a Bose gas with a wide Feshbach resonance at finite temperatures

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of Feshbach molecules in a homogeneous Bose gas is studied at finite temperatures in a single-channel mean-field approach where the Hartree-Fock energy and pairing gap are determined self-consistently. In the molecular-BEC state, the atomic excitation is gapped and the molecular excitation is gapless. The binding energy of Feshbach molecules is shifted from the vacuum value due to many-body effect. When the scattering length $a_s$ of atoms is negative, the system is subject to mechanical collapse due to negative compressibility. The system is stable in most regions with positive scattering lengths. However at low temperatures near the resonance, the molecular-BEC state vanishes, and the coherent mixture of atomic and molecular BEC is subject to mechanical collapse.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

The induced interaction in a Fermi gas with a BEC-BCS crossover

We study the effect of the induced interaction on the superfluid transition temperature of a Fermi gas with a BEC-BCS crossover. The Gorkov-Melik-Barkhudarov theory about the induced interaction is extended from the BCS side to the entire crossover, and the pairing fluctuation is treated in the approach by Nozi\`{e}res and Schmitt-Rink. At unitarity, the induced interaction reduces the transition temperature by about twenty percent. In the BCS limit, the transition temperature is reduced by a factor about 2.22, as found by Gorkov and Melik-Barkhudarov. Our result shows that the effect of the induced interaction is important both on the BCS side and in the unitary region.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

Ginzburg-Landau theory of a trapped Fermi gas with a BEC-BCS crossover

The Ginzburg-Landau theory of a trapped Fermi gas with a BEC-BCS crossover is derived by the path-integral method. In addition to the standard Ginzburg-Landau equation, a second equation describing the total atom density is obtained. These two coupled equations are necessary to describe both homogeneous and inhomogeneous systems. The Ginzburg-Landau theory is valid near the transition temperature $T_c$ on both sides of the crossover. In the weakly-interacting BEC region, it is also accurate at zero temperature where the Ginzburg-Landau equation can be mapped onto the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation. The applicability of GP equation at finite temperature is discussed. On the BEC side, the fluctuation of the order parameter is studied and the renormalization to the molecule coupling constant is obtained.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗