Routes Towards Anderson-Like Localization of Bose-Einstein Condensates in Disordered Optical Lattices (original) (raw)

Effect of interactions on the localization of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a quasiperiodic lattice

Physical Review A, 2007

The transport properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a 1D incommensurate bichromatic lattice are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. We observe a blockage of the center of mass motion with low atom number, and a return of motion when the atom number is increased. Solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation show how the localization due to the quasi-disorder introduced by the incommensurate bichromatic lattice is affected by the interactions.

Cold Atomic Gases in Optical Lattices with Disorder

2007

Cold atomic gases placed in optical lattices enable studies of simple condensed matter theory models with parameters that may be tuned relatively easily. When the optical potential is randomized (e.g. using laser speckle to create a random intensity distribution) one may be able to observe Anderson localization of matter waves for non-interacting bosons, the so-called Bose glass in the presence of interactions, as well as the Fermi glass or quantum spin glass for mixtures of fermions and bosons.

Three-dimensional localization of ultracold atoms in an optical disordered potential

In disordered media, quantum interference effects are expected to induce complete suppression of electron conduction. The phenomenon, known as Anderson localization, has a counterpart with classical waves that has been observed in acoustics, electromagnetism and optics, but a direct observation for particles remains elusive. Here, we report the observation of the three-dimensional localization of ultracold atoms in a disordered potential created by a speckle laser field. A phenomenological analysis of our data distinguishes a localized component of the resulting density profile from a diffusive component. The observed localization cannot be interpreted as the classical trapping of particles with energy below the classical percolation threshold in the disorder, nor can it be understood as quantum trapping in local potential minima. Instead, our data are compatible with the self-consistent theory of Anderson localization tailored to our system, involving a heuristic energy shift that offers scope for future interpretation.

Localization of excited states of Bose-Einstein Condensates in presence of disorder

arXiv (Cornell University), 2015

We study the time evolution of a Bose-Einstein Condensate with a vortex on it, when it is released from a trap and expands freely in an spatially uncorrelated disordered media. As customary in such cases, we perform the evolution over different disorder realizations and average over the disorder to obtain the quantities of interest. The propagation of non-interacting quantum systems in disordered media is strongly linked to Anderson localization which can be understood as formation of islands of constant phase due to coherent backscattering. We find that the vortex superfluid localizes in such media and, moreover, the vortex is resilient to disorder effects. This is a single particle effect. In the presence of interactions, no matter how small they are, the vortex rapidly decays into phase discontinuities although localization is still present. The study of dispersion of a bosonic condensate with vorticity in a disordered media bears similarities with the stability of topological excitations in 2D p-wave fermionic superfluids where the ground state is a Majorana mode that arises in the form of a vortex in the order parameter.

Quantum effects in the dynamical localization of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices

2006

We study quantum effects in the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded onto the edge of a Brillouin zone of a one-dimensional periodic potential created by an optical lattice. We show that quantum fluctuations trigger the dynamical instability of the Bloch states of the condensate and can lead to the generation of arrays of matter-wave gap solitons. Our approach also allows us to study the instability-induced anomalous heating of the condensate at the edge of the Brillouin zone and growth of the uncondensed atomic fraction. We demonstrate that there are regimes in which the heating effects do not suppress the formation of the localised states. We show that a phase imprinting technique can ensure the formation of gap soliton trains after short evolution times and at fixed positions.

Quantum localization without disorder in interacting Bose-Einstein condensates

2010

We discuss the possibility of exponential quantum localization in systems of ultracold bosonic atoms with repulsive interactions in open optical lattices without disorder. We show that exponential localization occur in the maximally excited state of the lowest energy band. We establish the conditions under which the presence of the upper energy bands can be neglected, determine the successive stages and the quantum phase boundaries at which localization occurs, and discuss how to detect it experimentally by visibility measurements. The discussed mechanism is a bona fide type of quantum localization, solely due to the interplay between nonlinearity and a bounded energy spectrum. In particular, it does not require the presence of random disorder or other local sources of noise, in striking contrast with Anderson localization.

Analysis of localization phenomena in weakly interacting disordered lattice gases

New Journal of Physics, 2006

Disorder plays a crucial role in many systems particularly in solid state physics. However, the disorder in a particular system can usually not be chosen or controlled. We show that the unique control available for ultracold atomic gases may be used for the production and observation of disordered quantum degenerate gases. A detailed analysis of localization effects for two possible realizations of a disordered potential is presented. In a theoretical analysis clear localization effects are observed when a superlattice is used to provide a quasiperiodic disorder. The effects of localization are analyzed by investigating the superfluid fraction and the localization length within the system. The theoretical analysis in this paper paves a clear path for the future observation of Anderson-like localization in disordered quantum gases.

Bose-Einstein condensates in optical quasicrystal lattices

Physical Review A, 2005

We analyze the physics of Bose-Einstein condensates confined in 2D quasi-periodic optical lattices, which offer an intermediate situation between ordered and disordered systems. First, we analyze the time-of-flight interference pattern that reveals quasi-periodic long-range order. Second, we demonstrate localization effects associated with quasi-disorder as well as quasiperiodic Bloch oscillations associated with the extended nature of the wavefunction of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical quasicrystal. In addition, we discuss in detail the crossover between diffusive and localized regimes when the quasi-periodic potential is switched on, as well as the effects of interactions.