Ferromagnetism in an Extended Coherently Coupled Atomic Superfluid

Year: 2023

Authors: Cominotti; R. and Berti; A. and Dulin; C. and Rogora; C. and Lamporesi; G. and Carusotto; I. and Recati; A. and Zenesini; A. and Ferrari; G.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Trento, Pitaevskii BEC Ctr, CNR INO, I-38123 Trento, Italy; Univ Trento, Dipartimento Fis, I-38123 Trento, Italy; ENS, F-75230 Paris, France.

Abstract: Ferromagnetism is an iconic example of a first-order phase transition taking place in spatially extended systems and is characterized by hysteresis and the formation of domain walls. We demonstrate that an extended atomic superfluid in the presence of a coherent coupling between two internal states exhibits a quantum phase transition from a paramagnetic to a ferromagnetic state. The nature of the transition is experimentally assessed by looking at the phase diagram as a function of the control parameters, at hysteresis phenomena, and at the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetization fluctuations around the critical point. We show that the observed features are in good agreement with mean-field calculations. Additionally, we develop experimental protocols to deterministically generate domain walls that separate spatial regions of opposite magnetization in the ferromagnetic state. Thanks to the enhanced coherence properties of our atomic superfluid system compared to standard condensed matter systems, our results open the way toward the study of different aspects of the relaxation dynamics in isolated coherent manybody quantum systems.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW X

Volume: 13      Pages from: 021037-1  to: 021037-16

More Information: We thank S. Giorgini, G. Rastelli, A. Biella, S. Stringari, S. Lannig, and M. Oberthaler for fruitful discussions, E. Tiemann for providing us the relevant scattering lengths, and A. Farolfi for experimental contributions in the early stage of the measurements. We acknowledge funding from Provincia Autonoma di Trento, from INFN through the FISH project, from the Italian MIUR under the PRIN2017 project CEnTraL (Protocol No. 20172H2SC4) , from the European Union ´ s Horizon 2020 research and innovation Programme through the STAQS project of QuantERA II (Grant Agreement No. 101017733) , from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union ´ s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 804305) , and from PNRR MUR project PE0000023-NQSTI. This work was supported by Q@TN, the joint lab between University of Trento, FBK – Fondazione Bruno Kessler, INFN – National Institute for Nuclear Physics, and CNR – National Research Council.
KeyWords: atomic and molecular physics, magnetism, superfluidity
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.13.021037

Citations: 9
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