Breaking the resilience of a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate to fragmentation

Shachar Klaiman (1) , Axel Lode (2) , Alexej Streltsov (1) , Lorenz Cederbaum (3) , Ofir Alon (4)

1 Theoretische Chemie Universität Heidelberg
2 Unibas - Université de Bâle = University of Basel = Basel Universität
3 PCI - Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut [Heidelberg]
4 Department of Mathematics-Physics [Haifa at Oranim]

A two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) split by a radial potential barrier is investigated. We determine on an accurate many-body level the system's ground-state phase diagram as well as a time-dependent phase diagram of the splitting process. Whereas the ground state is condensed for a wide range of parameters, the time-dependent splitting process leads to substantial fragmentation. We demonstrate the dynamical fragmentation of a BEC despite its ground state being condensed. The results are analyzed using a mean-field model and suggest that a large manifold of low-lying fragmented excited states can significantly impact the dynamics of trapped two-dimensional BECs.

Mots clés: MCTDH; MCTDHB; MCTDH-X; Schrödinger Equation; http://ultracold.org

Domaines: Gaz Quantiques [cond-mat.quant-gas]; Physique Quantique [quant-ph]; Physique Numérique [physics.comp-ph]; Agrégats Moléculaires et Atomiques [physics.atm-clus]

Shachar Klaiman, Axel Lode, Alexej Streltsov, Lorenz Cederbaum, Ofir Alon. Breaking the resilience of a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate to fragmentation. Physical Review A, 2014, 90, pp.043620. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.90.043620⟩. ⟨hal-02369826⟩