Self-induced Josephson oscillations and self-trapping in a supersolid dipolar quantum gas

Year: 2025

Authors: Donelli B., Antolini N., Biagioni G., Fattori M., Fioretti A., Gabbanini C., Inguscio M., Tanzi L., Modugno G., Smerzi A., Pezzè L.

Autors Affiliation: Ist Nazl Ottica, Consiglio Nazl Ric INO CNR, Largo Enr Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy; European Lab Nonlinear Spect Lens, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Ist Nazl Ott Consiglio Nazl Ric INO CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy; Univ Firenze, Dipartimento Fis & Astron, Via G Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Univ Paris Saclay, Inst Opt Grad Sch, CNRS, Lab Charles Fabry, F-91127 Palaiseau, France; Univ Campus Biomed Roma, Dipartimento Ingn, Via Alvaro Del Portillo 21, I-00128 Rome, Italy; QSTAR, Largo Enr Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy.

Abstract: The Josephson effect characterizes superfluids and superconductors separated by a weak link, the so-called Josephson junction. A recent experiment has shown that Josephson oscillations can also be observed in a supersolid, where the weak link is not due to an external barrier, but is self-induced by interparticle interactions. Here we show theoretically that supersolids-despite their self-induced character-feature key properties of bosonic Josephson junction arrays, including macroscopic quantum self-trapping. We focus on the harmonically trapped dipolar supersolids of interest for current experiments and show that they can be described with a generalized Josephson model that takes into account spatial inhomogeneities. Our work sheds new light on the dynamics of supersolids and opens the way to the study of a novel class of Josephson junctions.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 112 (5)      Pages from: L051302-1  to: L051302-7

More Information: This work has been supported by Quant ERA project SQUEIS (Squeezing Enhanced Inertial Sensing) , funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Program and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-22-QUA2-0006) ; the Horizon Europe Program HORIZONCL4-2022-QUANTUM-02-SGA via the Project No. 101113690 (PASQuanS2.1) ; the European Union (European Research Council, SUPERSOLIDS, Grant No. 101055319) and by the QuantERA program, project MAQS, under Grant No. 101017733, with funding organization Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. We acknowledge support from the European Union, NextGenerationEU, for the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative in Photonics and Quantum Sciences (I-PHOQS Grant No. IR0000016, ID Grant No. D2B8D520, and CUP Grant No. B53C22001750006) and for PNR MUR Project NQSTI-PNNR-PE4 No. PE0000023.
KeyWords: Association reactions; Superconducting films; Character feature; Dipolar quantum gas; Inter-particle interaction; Josephson oscillations; Josephson´s effects; Josephson-junction; Property; Self-trapping; Supersolids; Weakest links; Josephson junction devices
DOI: 10.1103/hy2k-vqxd