Tkachenko modes and structural phase transitions of the vortex lattice of a two component Bose-Einstein condensate

We consider a rapidly rotating two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) containing a vortex lattice. We calculate the dispersion relation for small oscillations of vortex positions (Tkachenko modes) in the mean-field quantum Hall regime, taking into account the coupling of these modes with density excitations. Using an analytic form for the density of the vortex lattice, we numerically calculate the elastic constants for different lattice geometries. We also apply this method to calculate the elastic constant for the single-component triangular lattice. For a two-component BEC, there are two kinds of Tkachenko modes, which we call acoustic and optical in analogy with phonons. For all lattice types, acoustic Tkachenko mode frequencies have quadratic wave-number dependence at long-wavelengths, while the optical Tkachenko modes have linear dependence. For triangular lattices the dispersion of the Tkachenko modes are isotropic, while for other lattice types the dispersion relations show directional dependence consistent with the symmetry of the lattice. Depending on the intercomponent interaction there are five distinct lattice types, and four structural phase transitions between them. Two of these transitions are second-order and are accompanied by the softening of an acoustic Tkachenko mode. The remaining two transitions are first-order and while one of them is accompanied by the softening of an optical mode, the other does not have any dramatic effect on the Tkachenko spectrum. We also find an instability of the vortex lattice when the intercomponent repulsion becomes stronger than the repulsion within components.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, typos corrected, references added, final versio

Manifestation of a gap due to the exchange energy in a spinor condensate

We investigate the dynamic response of population transfer between two components of a finite temperature spinor Bose condensed gas to a time-dependent coupling potential. Comparison between results obtained in the Bogoliubov-Popov approximation (BPA) and in the generalized random phase approximation (GRPA) shows noticeable discrepancies. In particular, the inter-component current response function calculated in the GRPA displays a gapped spectrum due to the exchange interaction energy whereas the corresponding density response function is gapless. We argue that the GRPA is superior since, contrary to the BPA, it preserves the SU(2) symmetry and the f-sum rule associated to the spinor gas. In order to validate the approximation, we propose an experimental setup that allows the observation of the predicted gap.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Artificial Magnetic Field Quenches in Synthetic Dimensions

Recent cold atom experiments have realized models where each hyperfine state at an optical lattice site can be regarded as a separate site in a synthetic dimension. In such synthetic ribbon configurations, manipulation of the transitions between the hyperfine levels provide direct control of the hopping in the synthetic dimension. This effect was used to simulate a magnetic field through the ribbon. Precise control over the hopping matrix elements in the synthetic dimension makes it possible to change this artificial magnetic field much faster than the time scales associated with atomic motion in the lattice. In this paper, we consider such a magnetic flux quench scenario in synthetic dimensions. Sudden changes have not been considered for real magnetic fields as such changes in a conducting system would result in large induced currents. Hence, we first study the difference between a time varying real magnetic field and an artificial magnetic field using a minimal six site model. This minimal model clearly shows the connection between gauge dependence and the lack of on site induced scalar potential terms. We then investigate the dynamics of a wavepacket in an infinite two or three leg ladder following a flux quench and find that the gauge choice has a dramatic effect on the packet dynamics. Specifically, a wavepacket splits into a number of smaller packets. Both the weights and the number of packets depend on the implemented gauge. If an initial packet, prepared under zero flux in a n--leg ladder, is quenched to Hamiltonian with a vector potential parallel to the ladder; it splits into at most $n$ smaller wavepackets. The same initial packet splits up to $n^2$ packets if the vector potential is implemented to be along the rungs. Finally, we show that edge states in a thick ribbon are robust under the quench only when the same gap supports an edge state for the final Hamiltonian.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figure

Impurity coupled to an artificial magnetic field in a Fermi gas in a ring trap

The dynamics of a single impurity interacting with a many particle background is one of the central problems of condensed matter physics. Recent progress in ultracold atom experiments makes it possible to control this dynamics by coupling an artificial gauge field specifically to the impurity. In this paper, we consider a narrow toroidal trap in which a Fermi gas is interacting with a single atom. We show that an external magnetic field coupled to the impurity is a versatile tool to probe the impurity dynamics. Using Bethe Ansatz (BA) we calculate the eigenstates and corresponding energies exactly as a function of the flux through the trap. Adiabatic change of flux connects the ground state to excited states due to flux quantization. For repulsive interactions, the impurity disturbs the Fermi sea by dragging the fermions whose momentum matches the flux. This drag transfers momentum from the impurity to the background and increases the effective mass. The effective mass saturates to the total mass of the system for infinitely repulsive interactions. For attractive interactions, the drag again increases the effective mass which quickly saturates to twice the mass of a single particle as a polaron of the impurity and one fermion is formed. For excited states with momentum comparable to number of particles, effective mass shows a resonant behavior. We argue that standard tools in cold atom experiments can be used to test these predictions.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure

Evolution of the Hofstadter butterfly in a tunable optical lattice

Recent advances in realizing artificial gauge fields on optical lattices promise experimental detection of topologically non-trivial energy spectra. Self-similar fractal energy structures generally known as Hofstadter butterflies depend sensitively on the geometry of the underlying lattice, as well as the applied magnetic field. The recent demonstration of an adjustable lattice geometry [L. Tarruell \textit{et al.}, Nature 483, 302--305 (2012)] presents a unique opportunity to study this dependence. In this paper, we calculate the Hofstadter butterflies that can be obtained in such an adjustable lattice and find three qualitatively different regimes. We show that the existence of Dirac points at zero magnetic field does not imply the topological equivalence of spectra at finite field. As the real-space structure evolves from the checkerboard lattice to the honeycomb lattice, two square lattice Hofstadter butterflies merge to form a honeycomb lattice butterfly. This merging is topologically non-trivial, as it is accomplished by sequential closings of gaps. Ensuing Chern number transfer between the bands can be probed with the adjustable lattice experiments. We also calculate the Chern numbers of the gaps for qualitatively different spectra and discuss the evolution of topological properties with underlying lattice geometry

Pairing and Vortex Lattices for Interacting Fermions in Optical Lattices with a Large Magnetic Field

We study the structure of pairing order parameter for spin-1/2 fermions with attractive interactions in a square lattice under a uniform magnetic field. Because the magnetic translation symmetry gives a unique degeneracy in the single-particle spectrum, the wave function has both zero and finite momentum components co-existing, and their relative phases are determined by a self-consistent mean-field theory. We present a microscopic calculation that can determine the vortex lattice structure in the superfluid phase for different flux densities. Phase transition from a Hofstadter insulator to a superfluid phase is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, one table, published versio

Quantum correlated light pulses from sequential superradiance of a condensate

We discover an inherent mechanism for entanglement swap associated with sequential superradiance from an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Based on careful examinations with both analytical and numerical approaches, we conclude that as a result of the swap mechanism, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR)-type quantum correlations can be detected among the scattered light pulses.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Phase Boundary of the Boson Mott Insulator in a Rotating Optical Lattice

We consider the Bose-Hubbard model in a two dimensional rotating optical lattice and investigate the consequences of the effective magnetic field created by rotation. Using a Gutzwiller type variational wavefunction, we find an analytical expression for the Mott insulator(MI)-Superfluid(SF) transition boundary in terms of the maximum eigenvalue of the Hofstadter butterfly. The dependence of phase boundary on the effective magnetic field is complex, reflecting the self-similar properties of the single particle energy spectrum. Finally, we argue that fractional quantum Hall phases exist close to the MI-SF transition boundaries, including MI states with particle densities greater than one.Comment: 5 pages,3 figures. High resolution figures available upon reques