Dephasing and breakdown of adiabaticity in the splitting of Bose-Einstein condensates

Year: 2005

Authors: Pezzé L., Smerzi A., Berman G.P., Bishop A.R., Collins L.A.

Autors Affiliation: Los Alamos Natl Lab, Div Theoret, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA; Univ Trent, Dipartimento Fis, Ist Nazl Fis Mat, BEC CRS, I-38050 Povo, Italy.

Abstract: We study the quantum dynamics of a Bose – Einstein condensate trapped in a double-well potential with a rising interwell barrier. We analytically find the characteristic timescales of the splitting process and compare our results with numerical analyses available in the literature. In the first stage of the dynamics, the relative phase of the two condensates evolves adiabatically. At a critical time t(ad), small-amplitude phase fluctuations around the average trajectory increase exponentially fast, signalling the breakdown of adiabaticity. After this stage, it is still not possible to neglect the tunnelling exchange between the two wells. We find highly non-trivial dependences of the dephasing time on tad and on the ramping time of the interwell barrier.

Journal/Review: NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS

Volume: 7      Pages from: 85-1  to: 85-15

KeyWords: Phase Diffusion; Quantum Phase; Number
DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/085

Citations: 8
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