Asymmetric tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates

authored by: Dustin R. Lindberg, Naceur Gaaloul, Lev Kaplan, Jason R. Williams, Dennis Schlippert, Patrick Boegel, Ernst Maria Rasel, Denys I. Bondar
Abstract: In his celebrated textbook, Quantum Mechanics: Nonrelativistic Theory, Landau argued that, for single particle systems in 1D, tunneling probability remains the same for a particle incident from the left or the right of a barrier. This left-right symmetry of tunneling probability holds regardless of the shape of the potential barrier. However, there are a variety of known cases that break this symmetry, e.g. when observing composite particles. We computationally (and analytically, in the simplest case) show this breaking of the left-right tunneling symmetry for Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in 1D, modeled by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. By varying g, the parameter of inter-particle interaction in the BEC, we demonstrate that the transition from symmetric (g = 0) to asymmetric tunneling is a threshold phenomenon. Our computations employ experimentally feasible parameters such that these results may be experimentally demonstrated in the near future. We conclude by suggesting applications of the phenomena to design atomtronic diodes, synthetic gauge fields, Maxwell’s demons, and black-hole analogues.
Organisation(s): Institute of Quantum Optics
QuantumFrontiers
CRC 1227 Designed Quantum States of Matter (DQ-mat)
External Organisation(s): Tulane University
California Institute of Caltech (Caltech)
Ulm University
Type: Article
Journal: Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Volume: 56
ISSN: 0953-4075
Publication date: 18.01.2023
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Condensed Matter Physics
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2110.15298 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6455/acae50 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{dffffa87aae3457da3992feff9e5b0d7,
title = "Asymmetric tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates",
abstract = "In his celebrated textbook, Quantum Mechanics: Nonrelativistic Theory, Landau argued that, for single particle systems in 1D, tunneling probability remains the same for a particle incident from the left or the right of a barrier. This left-right symmetry of tunneling probability holds regardless of the shape of the potential barrier. However, there are a variety of known cases that break this symmetry, e.g. when observing composite particles. We computationally (and analytically, in the simplest case) show this breaking of the left-right tunneling symmetry for Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in 1D, modeled by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. By varying g, the parameter of inter-particle interaction in the BEC, we demonstrate that the transition from symmetric (g = 0) to asymmetric tunneling is a threshold phenomenon. Our computations employ experimentally feasible parameters such that these results may be experimentally demonstrated in the near future. We conclude by suggesting applications of the phenomena to design atomtronic diodes, synthetic gauge fields, Maxwell{\textquoteright}s demons, and black-hole analogues.",
keywords = "asymmetry, BEC, Bose-Einstein condensate, broken symmetry, Gross-Pitaevskii equation, quantum gases, tunneling",
author = "Lindberg, {Dustin R.} and Naceur Gaaloul and Lev Kaplan and Williams, {Jason R.} and Dennis Schlippert and Patrick Boegel and Rasel, {Ernst Maria} and Bondar, {Denys I.}",
note = "Funding Information: D L and D I B are supported by by the W M Keck Foundation. D I B is also supported by Army Research Office (ARO) (Grant W911NF-19-1-0377, program manager Dr James Joseph, and cooperative agreement W911NF-21-2-0139). The research of J R W was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of ARO or the U S Government. The U S Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. This project is supported by the German Space Agency (DLR) with funds provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) under Grant No. 50WM2254A (CAL-II) and 50WM2060 (CARIOQA). D S gratefully acknowledges funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the funding program Photonics Research Germany under Contract Number 13N14875. D S, E M R and N G acknowledge support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) within the project A05, B07 and B09 of CRC 1227 (DQmat) and under Germany{\textquoteright}s Excellence Strategy—EXC-2123 QuantumFrontiers — 390837967.",
year = "2023",
month = jan,
day = "18",
doi = "10.48550/arXiv.2110.15298",
language = "English",
volume = "56",
journal = "Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics",
issn = "0953-4075",
publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",
number = "2",
}