arXiv subjects

Zi-Yao Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Zi-Yao Zhang.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fluctuation-based evidence for number--phase dynamics in a frustrated orbital superfluid

Frustrated quantum matter can host intertwined orders rooted in symmetry-related low-energy landscapes, yet static order parameters alone do not reveal how fluctuations are organized among competing configurations. Here we measure mode-resolved shot-to-shot population fluctuations in a $p$-orbital triangular-lattice superfluid with a tunable bias among three valleys. We observe a bias-tuned evolution from enhanced, anticorrelated fluctuations of two minority valleys toward strong confinement of relative-population fluctuations in a selected two-valley stripe phase. The dominant fluctuation structure is captured by an effective canonical model that includes interactions among the condensed modes, supporting a quasi-equilibrium description of the coherent three-valley condensate. Together, the data and model reveal a quantum--thermal regime shaped by pair-tunneling-induced number--phase dynamics, in which relative-phase scrambling softens effective barriers in the minority-valley regime, while phase rigidity gives rise to macroscopic harmonic confinement in the stripe phase. Our results establish mode-resolved fluctuation measurements as a probe of hidden number--phase back-action in frustrated quantum fluids.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Observation of Brownian Motion of a Bose-Einstein Condensate

We report on the experimental observation of classical Brownian motion in momentum space by a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of Rubidium atoms prepared in a hexagonal optical lattice. Upon suddenly increasing the effective atomic mass, the BEC as a whole behaves as a classical rigid body with its center-of-mass receiving random momentum kicks by a Langevin force arising from atom loss and interactions with the surrounding thermal cloud. Physically, this amounts to selective heating of the BEC center-of-mass degree of freedom by a sudden quench, while with regard to the relative coordinates, the BEC is stablized by repulsive atomic interactions, and its internal dynamics is suppressed by forced evaporative cooling induced by atom loss. A phenomenological theory is developed that well explains the experimental data quantitatively.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Sparse regularization with a non-convex penalty for SAR imaging and autofocusing

In this paper, SAR image reconstruction with joint phase error estimation (autofocusing) is formulated as an inverse problem. An optimization model utilising a sparsity-enforcing Cauchy regularizer is proposed, and an alternating minimization framework is used to solve it, in which the desired image and the phase errors are optimized alternatively. For the image reconstruction sub-problem (f-sub-problem), two methods are presented capable of handling the problem's complex nature, and we thus present two variants of our SAR image autofocusing algorithm. Firstly, we design a complex version of the forward-backward splitting algorithm (CFBA) to solve the f-sub-problem iteratively. For the second variant, the Wirtinger alternating minimization autofocusing (WAMA) method is presented, in which techniques of Wirtinger calculus are utilized to minimize the complex-valued cost function in the f-sub-problem in a direct fashion. For both methods, the phase error estimation sub-problem is solved by simply expanding and observing its cost function. Moreover, the convergence of both algorithms is discussed in detail. By conducting experiments on both simulated scenes and real SAR images, the proposed method is demonstrated to give impressive autofocusing results compared to other state of the art methods.

eess.IV↗

arXiv2020

SAR Image Autofocusing using Wirtinger calculus and Cauchy regularization

In this paper, an optimization model using Cauchy regularization is proposed for simultaneous SAR image reconstruction and autofocusing. A coordinate descent framework in which the desired image and the phase errors are optimized alternatively is designed to solve the model. For the subproblem of estimating the image, we utilize the techniques of Wirtinger calculus to directly minimize the cost function which involves complex variables. We also utilise a state-of-the-art, sparsity-enforcing Cauchy regularizer. The proposed method is demonstrated to give impressive autofocusing results by conducting experiments on both simulated scene and real SAR image.

eess.IV↗