Physics
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Item A Ring with a Spin : Superfluidity in a toroidal Bose-Einstein condensate(2011) Ramanathan, Anand Krishnan; Rolston, Steve L; Chemical Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Superfluidity is a remarkable phenomenon. Superfluidity was initially characterized by flow without friction, first seen in liquid helium in 1938, and has been studied extensively since. Superfluidity is believed to be related to, but not identical to Bose-Einstein condensation, a statistical mechanical phenomena predicted by Albert Einstein in 1924 based on the statistics of Satyendra Nath Bose, where bosonic atoms make a phase transition to form a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a gas which has macroscopic occupation of a single quantum state. Developments in laser cooling of neutral atoms and the subsequent realization of Bose-Einstein condensates in ultracold gases have opened a new window into the study of superfluidity and its relation to Bose-Einstein condensation. In our atomic sodium BEC experiment, we studied superfluidity and dissipationless flow in an all-optical toroidal trap, constructed using the combination of a horizontal ``sheet''-like beam and vertical ``ring''-like beam, which, like a circuit loop, allows flow around the ring. On inducing a single quantum of circulation in the condensate, the smoothness and uniformity of the toroidal BEC enabled the sustaining of a persistent current lasting 40 seconds, limited by the lifetime of the BEC due to background gas pressure. This success set the stage for further experiments studying superfluidity. In a first set of experiments, we studied the stability of the persistent current by inserting a barrier in the flow path of the ring. The superflow stopped abruptly at a barrier strength such that the local flow velocity at the barrier exceeded a critical velocity, which supported decay via the creation of a vortex-antivortex pair. Our precise control in inducing and arresting superflow in the BEC is a first step toward studying other aspects of superfluidity, such as the effect of temperature and dimensionality. This thesis discusses these experiments and also details partial-transfer absorption imaging, an imaging technique developed in the course of this work.Item Entanglement Dynamics in Atom-Field Systems(2011) Cummings, Nicholas Immanuel; Hu, Bei-Lok; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)We consider the time evolution of quantum entanglement in the context of interactions between atoms and the electromagnetic field. We explore the influence of interatomic separation and the degree to which this can change the qualitative character of those dynamics, including entanglement generation, protection, and sudden death (SD). We find that the qualitative features of entanglement dynamics can be changed entirely in few-mode models when atomic spacing is varied, allowing for particular choices of configuration that are favorable for maintaining entanglement. We also examine the inaccuracies introduced by the use of common approximations: We characterize unexpected errors that result from using perturbative master equations as well as those that result from using the rotating-wave approximation (RWA). We find that in dissipative systems the errors introduced by these approximations can lead to an incorrect picture of late-time dynamics. Standard perturbative master equations using the RWA are constrained to predict that late-time SD occurs to only some initial states at zero temperature, but this is merely an artifact of those approximation and generally not correct. The same master equations predict that at finite temperature all states are separable asymptotically at late times and must undergo SD. In fact a proper accounting of environmentally-induced corrections to the steady state of the system shows that for low temperatures it is possible to have asymptotic entanglement in some cases. We derive a master equation for two atoms interacting with the free field without using the RWA and solve it to obtain the dynamics, including the effects of distance. From these dynamics we find that, in fact, all initial states of atoms separated by any positive distance undergo SD even at zero temperature, though there are sub-radiant states that can be quite long-lived for closely spaced atoms.Item Preparing the measurement of anapole moment in a chain of francium isotopes(2011) Sheng, Dong; Orozco, Luis A; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis presents the current status of the experimental efforts towards the measurement of the anapole moment in francium. The anapole moment is a parity violating, time-reversal conserving nuclear moment that arises from the weak interaction among nucleons. It is nuclear spin dependent and sensitive to the configuration of nuclear structure. Our experimental scheme is to perform a direct measurement of the anapole moment, by driving a parity forbidden E1 transition between ground hyperfine states in a series of francium isotopes inside a blue detuned dipole trap at the electric anti-node of a microwave cavity. We explore the tests using rubidium isotopes. The francium experiment will be moved to the ISAC radioactive beam facility of TRIUMF, Canada. During the preparation of the apparatus, we test the coherent control of the ground states via microwave and Raman beams, characterize the performance of a blue detuned dipole trap and study the atomic dynamics inside it using both classical and quantum methods. We also measure the lifetime of excited 5d states in Rb, with less than 1% uncertainty, to test and help to improve the current atomic structure theories.Item Disordered Ultracold Two-Dimensional Bose Gases(2010) Beeler, Matthew; Rolston, Steven; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Ultracold bose gase systems can perform quantum simulations of high temperature superconductors in certain parameter regimes. Specifically, 2D bose gases at low temperatures exhibit a superfluid to thermal gas phase transition analogous to the superconductor to insulator transition in certain superconductors. The unbinding of thermally activated vortex pairs drives this phase transition, and disorder is expected to affect vortex motion in this system. In addition, disorder itself can drive phase transitions in superconductors. We have designed and built a system which produces two 2D ultracold Bose gas systems separated by a few microns. In addition, we have also produced a disordered speckled laser intensity pattern with a grain size of ~1 μm, small enough to provide a disordered potential for the two systems. We have observed the superfluid phase transition with and without the presence of disorder. The coherence of the system, which is related to superfluidity, is strongly reduced by the presence of disorder, even at small disorder strength, but the effect of the disorder on observed vortices in the system is less clear.Item QUANTUM MANY-BODY PHENOMENA IN ULTRA-COLD ATOMS IN OPTICAL LATTICES(2011) Hu, Anzi; Hu, Bei-Lok; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Two models are discussed here to illustrate the quantum many-body phenomena in mixtures of ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. The first model describes a mixture of two species of bosonic atoms of equal masses in optical lattices and the second describes a mixture of heavy bosonic atoms and light fermionic atoms in optical lattices. For both models, we assume the trap is present and use parameters typical in experiment. For the first model, the discussion is aimed at providing a thorough description of the collective behavior of the binary mixture in various interaction regions, with emphasis on two many-body phenomena, pairing and anti-pairing, as a result of the inter-species interaction. The pairing leads to a new type of superfluid order, called the paired superfluid (PSF) and the anti-pairing leads to another type of superfluid order, called the counter-flow superfluid (CFSF). In addition, we discuss the coexistence of charge density wave order with the three superfluid orders in the strong interaction region. We use both Luttinger liquid theory and the time evolving block decimation (TEBD) method to study this model in one dimension. The discussion is organized in three parts: the phase diagram and the correlation functions; the noise correlation functions; and the transport properties. Two phase diagrams are constructed to map the different orders in the parameter space. The correlation functions, include noise correlations, are carefully examined for the determination of the orders and for possible detection methods. In the end, the transport properties of the PSF and CFSF orders are studied through the dipole oscillation induced by trap displacement. For the second model, examining a mixture of heavy bosons and light fermions, the discussion is oriented toward determining the thermal properties of the mixture for attractive inter-species interactions. This work is motivated by experiments creating artificial molecules through optical and magnetic control of ultra-cold atoms. We use the strong coupling (SC) expansion method to evaluate the density profile, the onsite inter-species correlations, the density fluctuations and the entropy per particle. Analytical expressions are derived for all the quantities above as well as the partition function. To benchmark the accuracy, the SC calculations are compared with inhomogeneous dynamical mean field theory (IDMFT) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. From the calculations, we find that 1) the efficiency of creating pre-formed molecules is significantly increased by confining the mixtures onto optical lattices; 2) the temperature of the mixtures in optical lattices can be reliably estimated through the density gradient and the density fluctuations.Item Nonequilibrium Quantum Fluctuation Forces(2010) Behunin, Ryan Orson; Hu, Bei-Lok B; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)We study all known and as yet unknown forces between neutral atoms and neutral atoms and surfaces. The forces arise from mutual influences mediated by an attending electromagnetic field and not from direct interaction. We allow as dynamical variables the center of mass motion of the atom (or surface Chapter 5), its internal degrees of freedom, modeled as a three dimensional harmonic oscillator (the internal degrees of freedom of the surface in chapter 4), and the quantum field treated relativistically. We adopt the methods of nonequilibrium quantum field theory (NEqQFT) to study the problem of fluctuation forces beginning from first principles. NEqQFT provides a fully dynamical description of systems far from equilibrium having the advantage of being the synthesis of quantum field theory and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. The integration of these two paradigms is necessary for a complete study of fluctuation forces; quantum field theory for providing effects such as retardation and quantum field fluctuations, and nonequilbrium statistical mechanics for treating processes involving quantum dissipation and noises. By embarking from first principles we avoid wrong or only partially correct results from inconsistent theories that can be generated from assumptions made at lower levels of accuracy. In thermodynamic equilibrium we reproduce all the effects and forces known in the last century, such as Casimir-Polder-- between neutral atoms, Lifshitz-- between an atom and a surface and Casimir between surfaces (and the generalization of these forces to nonequilibrium stationary-states). More noteworthy is the discovery of the existence of a new type of interatomic force which we call the `entanglement force', originating from the quantum correlations of the internal degrees of freedom of entangled atoms. Fluctuation phenomena associated with quantum fields is a new frontier of future research in atom-field interaction. With NEqQFT we have derived Langevin equations which account for fluctuations of an atom's trajectory about its semi-classical value. These quantum field-induced perturbations of the atom's position could lead to measurable results such as the damping of the center-of-mass oscillations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate near a surface or backaction cooling of moving mirror by radiative pressure and quantum viscosity discussed respectively in Chapter 3 and 5 of this thesis. The methods introduced in this thesis for treating atom-field interactions or mirror-field interactions go beyond previous work by providing a fully dynamical description of these forces valid for arbitrary atom and surface motion, indeed the inclusion of self consistent backactions are necessary for the study of phenomena such as quantum decoherence and entanglement dynamics, including non-Markovian processes which invariably will appear when backaction is taken into consideration(especially for strong fields, low temperatures, or fast response).