Quantum Quench of an Atomic Mott Insulator
| Autor: | Cecilia Borries, David Chen, Matthew R. White, Brian DeMarco |
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| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Quantum phase transition Condensed Matter::Quantum Gases Phase transition Optical lattice Condensed matter physics Condensed Matter::Other Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) Mott insulator High Energy Physics::Lattice General Physics and Astronomy FOS: Physical sciences 01 natural sciences 010305 fluids & plasmas Physics - Atomic Physics Superfluidity Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas) Phase (matter) 0103 physical sciences Condensed Matter::Strongly Correlated Electrons Metal–insulator transition 010306 general physics Condensed Matter - Quantum Gases Jaynes–Cummings–Hubbard model |
| DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.1103.4662 |
| Popis: | We study quenches across the Bose-Hubbard Mott-insulator-to-superfluid quantum phase transition by using an ultracold atomic gas trapped in an optical lattice. Quenching from the Mott insulator to the superfluid phase is accomplished by continuously tuning the ratio of Hubbard tunneling to interaction energy. Excitations of the condensate formed after the quench are measured by using time-of-flight imaging. We observe that the degree of excitation is proportional to the fraction of atoms that cross the phase boundary and that the quantity of excitations and energy produced during the quench have a power-law dependence on the quench rate. These phenomena suggest an excitation process analogous to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for defect generation in nonequilibrium classical phase transitions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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