Complex Flows in Granular and Quantum Systems

Abstract

In this thesis we investigate three problems involving complex flows in granular and quantum systems.

(a) We first study the dynamics of granular particles in a split-bottom shear cell experiment. We utilize network theory to quantify the dynamics of the granular system at the mesoscopic scale. We find an apparent phase transition in the formation of a giant component of broken links as a function of applied shear. These results are compared to a numerical model where breakages are based on the amount of local stretching in the granular pile.

(b) Moving to quantum mechanical systems, we study revival and echo phenomena in systems of anharmonically confined atoms, and find a novel phenomena we call the "pre-revival echo". We study the effect of size and symmetry of the perturbations on the various echoes and revivals, and form a perturbative model to describe the phenomena. We then model the effect of interactions using the Gross-Pitaevskii Equation and study interactions' effect on the revivals.

(c) Lastly, we continue to study the effect of interactions on particles in weakly anharmonic traps. We numerically observe a "dynamical localization" phenomena in the presence of both anharmonicity and interactions. States may remain localized or become spread out in the potential depending on the strength and sign of the anharmonicity and interactions. We formulate a model for this phenomena in terms of a classical phase space.