Parity-symmetry breaking and topological phases in a superfluid ring

Year: 2016

Authors: Zhang XR., Piazza F., Li WD., Smerzi A.

Autors Affiliation: Shanxi Univ, Inst Theoret Phys, Taiyuan 030006, Peoples R China; Shanxi Univ, Dept Phys, Taiyuan 030006, Peoples R China; Univ Innsbruck, Inst Theoret Phys, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria; INO CNR, QSTAR, Largo Enrico Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy; LENS, Largo Enrico Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy.

Abstract: We study analytically the superfluid flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a ring geometry in the presence of a rotating barrier. We show that a phase transition breaking a parity symmetry among two topological phases occurs at a critical value of the height of the barrier. Furthermore, a discontinuous (accompanied by hysteresis) phase transition is observed in the ordered phase when changing the angular velocity of the barrier. At the critical point where the hysteresis area vanishes, the chemical potential of the ground state develops a cusp (a discontinuity in the first derivative). Along this path, the jump between the two corresponding states having a different winding number shows analogies with a topological phase transition. We finally study the current-phase relation of the system and compare some of our calculations with published experimental results.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 94 (6)      Pages from: 63601-1  to: 63601-6

More Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374197), Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (Grant No. IRT13076), and the Hundred Talent Program of Shanxi Province (2012).
KeyWords: Bose-Einstein condensates; Corresponding state; Current-phase relations; First derivative; Superfluid flows; Symmetry-breaking; Topological phase; Topological phasis
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.94.063601

Citations: 2
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