Observation of roton mode population in a dipolar quantum gas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chomaz, L.; van Bijnen, R. M. W.; Petter, D.; Faraoni, G.; Baier, S.; Becher, J. H.; Mark, M. J.; Wächtler, F.; Santos, L.; Ferlaino, F.
2018-05-01
The concept of a roton, a special kind of elementary excitation forming a minimum of energy at finite momentum, has been essential for the understanding of the properties of superfluid 4He (ref. 1). In quantum liquids, rotons arise from the strong interparticle interactions, whose microscopic description remains debated2. In the realm of highly controllable quantum gases, a roton mode has been predicted to emerge due to magnetic dipole-dipole interactions despite their weakly interacting character3. This prospect has raised considerable interest4-12; yet roton modes in dipolar quantum gases have remained elusive to observations. Here we report experimental and theoretical studies of the momentum distribution in Bose-Einstein condensates of highly magnetic erbium atoms, revealing the existence of the long-sought roton mode. Following an interaction quench, the roton mode manifests itself with the appearance of symmetric peaks at well-defined finite momentum. The roton momentum follows the predicted geometrical scaling with the inverse of the confinement length along the magnetization axis. From the growth of the roton population, we probe the roton softening of the excitation spectrum in time and extract the corresponding imaginary roton gap. Our results provide a further step in the quest towards supersolidity in dipolar quantum gases13.
Scattering of quasiparticles in $sup 3$He--$sup 4$He mixtures
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bagchi, A.; Ruvalds, J.
Considering the elementary excitation spectrum of /sup 3/He -/sup 4/He mixtures to be of the form proposed by Landau and Pomeranchuk, the scattering cross section for roton and /sup 3/He quasiparticle collisions was calculated taking final-state interactions into account. The theory demonstrates the importance of final-state interactions in renormalizing the roton energy and lifetime. Previous theories based on the Porn approximation are shown to give unreliable results for the change of the energy and lifetime for rotons in dilute /sup 3/He --/sup 4/He mixtures owing to roton-/sup 3/He scattering. Upper bound s on the changes in the energy and lifetimemore » of a roton as a function of the roton- /sup 3/He coupling strength were obtained using a simplified model for the coupling. These bounds give an insignificant change of the roton energy with the iHe eoncentration and thus explain recent neutron-seattering and Raman data on the mixtures. Effects of level repulsion between rotons and the /sup 3/He quasiparticle-hole continuum are calculated, and estimated to be small on the basis of recent Raman data, However, decay of a roton into a iHe quasiparticle- hole pair may live rise to an interesting concentration dependence of the roton linewidth. Further experimental studies of the mixtures are suggested, which may check the detailed predictions of the theory and provide insight into the momentum dependence of the coupling parameters. The present analysis represents an essential link between microscopic theories of the quasiparticle coupling and related experiments on dilute /sup 3/He --/sup 4/He mixtures. (auth)« less
Phonon-roton modes of liquid 4He beyond the roton in MCM-41
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Azuah, Richard T; Omar Diallo, Souleymane; Adams, Mark A.
2013-01-01
We present neutron scattering measurements of the phonon-roton (P-R) mode of superfluid 4He confined in 47 A MCM-41 at T = 0.5 K at wave vectors, Q, beyond the roton wave vector (QR = 1.92 A-1). Measurements beyond the roton require access to high wave vectors (up to Q = 4 A-1) with excellent energy resolution and high statistical precision. The present results show for the first time that at T = 0.5 K the P-R mode in MCM-41 extends out to wave-vector Q 3.6 A-1 with the same energy and zero width (within precision) as observed in bulk superfluidmore » 4He. Layer modes in the roton region are also observed. Specifically, the P-R mode energy, !Q, increases with Q for Q > QR and reaches a plateau at a maximum energy !Q = 2 where is the roton energy, = 0.74 0.01 meV in MCM-41. This upper limit means the P-R mode decays to two rotons when its energy exceeds 2 . It also means that the P-R mode does not decay to two layers modes. If the P-R could decay to two layer modes, !Q would plateau at a lower energy, !Q = 2 L where L = 0.60 meV is the energy of the roton like minimum of the layer mode. The observation of the P-R mode with energy up to 2 shows that the P-R mode and the layer modes are independent modes with apparently little interaction between them.« less
Rotons, Superfluidity, and Helium Crystals
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Balibar, Sébastien
2006-09-01
Fritz London understood that quantum mechanics could show up at the macroscopic level, and, in 1938, he proposed that superfluidity was a consequence of Bose-Einstein condensation. However, Lev Landau never believed in London's ideas; instead, he introduced quasiparticles to explain the thermodynamics of superfluid 4He and a possible mechanism for its critical velocity. One of these quasiparticles, a crucial one, was his famous "roton" which he considered as an elementary vortex. At the LT0 conference (Cambridge, 1946), London criticized Landau and his "theory based on the shaky grounds of imaginary rotons". Despite their rather strong disagreement, Landau was awarded the London prize in 1960, six years after London's death. Today, we know that London and Landau had both found part of the truth: BEC takes place in 4He, and rotons exist. In my early experiments on quantum evaporation, I found direct evidence for the existence of rotons and for evaporation processes in which they play the role of photons in the photoelectric effect. But rotons are now considered as particular phonons which are nearly soft, due to some local order in superfluid 4He. Later we studied helium crystals which are model systems for the general study of crystal surfaces, but also exceptional systems with unique quantum properties. In our recent studies of nucleation, rotons show their importance again: by using acoustic techniques, we have extended the study of liquid 4He up to very high pressures where the liquid state is metastable, and we wish to demonstrate that the vanishing of the roton gap may destroy superfluidity and trigger an instability towards the crystalline state.
Quantum Evaporation from Liquid 4He by Rotons
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hope, F. R.; Baird, M. J.; Wyatt, A. F. G.
1984-04-01
We have shown that rotons as well as phonons can evaporate 4He atoms in a single-quantum process. Measurements of the time of flight and the angular distribution of the evaporated atoms clearly distinguish between evaporation by phonons and rotons. The results indicate that energy and the parallel component of momentum are conserved at the free liquid surface.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Balibar, Sebastien
Fritz London understood that quantum mechanics could show up at the macroscopic level, and, in 1938, he proposed that superfluidity was a consequence of Bose-Einstein condensation. However, Lev Landau never believed in London's ideas; instead, he introduced quasiparticles to explain the thermodynamics of superfluid 4He and a possible mechanism for its critical velocity. One of these quasiparticles, a crucial one, was his famous ''roton'' which he considered as an elementary vortex. At the LT0 conference (Cambridge, 1946), London criticized Landau and his ''theory based on the shaky grounds of imaginary rotons''. Despite their rather strong disagreement, Landau was awarded themore » London prize in 1960, six years after London's death. Today, we know that London and Landau had both found part of the truth: BEC takes place in 4He, and rotons exist.In my early experiments on quantum evaporation, I found direct evidence for the existence of rotons and for evaporation processes in which they play the role of photons in the photoelectric effect. But rotons are now considered as particular phonons which are nearly soft, due to some local order in superfluid 4He. Later we studied helium crystals which are model systems for the general study of crystal surfaces, but also exceptional systems with unique quantum properties. In our recent studies of nucleation, rotons show their importance again: by using acoustic techniques, we have extended the study of liquid 4He up to very high pressures where the liquid state is metastable, and we wish to demonstrate that the vanishing of the roton gap may destroy superfluidity and trigger an instability towards the crystalline state.« less
Mutual interactions of phonons, rotons, and gravity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nicolis, Alberto; Penco, Riccardo
2018-04-01
We introduce an effective point-particle action for generic particles living in a zero-temperature superfluid. This action describes the motion of the particles in the medium at equilibrium as well as their couplings to sound waves and generic fluid flows. While we place the emphasis on elementary excitations such as phonons and rotons, our formalism applies also to macroscopic objects such as vortex rings and rigid bodies interacting with long-wavelength fluid modes. Within our approach, we reproduce phonon decay and phonon-phonon scattering as predicted using a purely field-theoretic description of phonons. We also correct classic results by Landau and Khalatnikov on roton-phonon scattering. Finally, we discuss how phonons and rotons couple to gravity, and show that the former tend to float while the latter tend to sink but with rather peculiar trajectories. Our formalism can be easily extended to include (general) relativistic effects and couplings to additional matter fields. As such, it can be relevant in contexts as diverse as neutron star physics and light dark matter detection.
Maxon and roton measurements in nanoconfined 4He
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bryan, M. S.; Sokol, P. E.
2018-05-01
We investigate the behavior of the collective excitations of adsorbed 4He in an ordered hexagonal mesopore, examining the crossover from a thin film to a confined fluid. Here, we present the inelastic scattering results as a function of filling at constant temperature. We find a monotonic transition of the maxon excitation as a function of filling. This has been interpreted as corresponding to an increasing density of the adsorbed helium, which approaches the bulk value as filling increases. The roton minimum exhibits a more complicated behavior that does not monotonically approach bulk values as filling increases. The full pore scattering resembles the bulk liquid accompanied by a layer mode. The maxon and roton scattering, taken together, at intermediate fillings does not correspond to a single bulk liquid dispersion at negative, low, or high pressure.
Geometric stability spectra of dipolar Bose gases in tunable optical lattices
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Corson, John P.; Wilson, Ryan M.; Bohn, John L.
2013-07-01
We examine the stability of quasi-two-dimensional dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates in the presence of weak optical lattices of various geometries. We find that when the condensate possesses a roton-maxon quasiparticle dispersion, the conditions for stability exhibit a strong dependence both on the lattice geometry and the polarization tilt. This results in rich structures in the system's stability diagram akin to spectroscopic signatures. We show how these structures originate from the mode matching of rotons to the perturbing lattice. In the case of a one-dimensional lattice, some of the features emerge only when the polarization axis is tilted into the plane of the condensate. Our results suggest that the stability diagram may be used as a novel means to spectroscopically measure rotons in dipolar condensates.
Excitation energy spectrum in helium II
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lu, P.; Chan, C.K.
1979-11-01
We obtain the roton part of the excitation energy spectrum in He II qualitatively. We point out that the distinct difference between this calculation and that of Parry and Ter Haar is that we do not use the Born approximation in the evaluation of t-matrix elements. We found that in addition to the contribution due to the hard-core part, the attractive potential helps to form the roton dip.
Dynamics of a Two-Dimensional System of Quantum Dipoles
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Mazzanti, F.; Astrakharchik, G. E.; Boronat, J.
2009-03-20
A detailed microscopic analysis of the dynamic structure function S(k,{omega}) of a two-dimensional Bose system of dipoles polarized along the direction perpendicular to the plane is presented and discussed. Starting from ground-state quantities obtained using a quantum diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm, the density-density response is evaluated in the context of the correlated basis functions (CBF) theory. CBF predicts a sharp peak and a multiexcitation component at higher energies produced by the decay of excitations. We discuss the structure of the phonon-roton peak and show that the Feynman and Bogoliubov predictions depart from the CBF result already at low densities. Wemore » finally discuss the emergence of a roton in the spectrum, but find the roton energy not low enough to make the system unstable under density fluctuations up to the highest density considered that is close to the freezing point.« less
Roton Minimum as a Fingerprint of Magnon-Higgs Scattering in Ordered Quantum Antiferromagnets.
Powalski, M; Uhrig, G S; Schmidt, K P
2015-11-13
A quantitative description of magnons in long-range ordered quantum antiferromagnets is presented which is consistent from low to high energies. It is illustrated for the generic S=1/2 Heisenberg model on the square lattice. The approach is based on a continuous similarity transformation in momentum space using the scaling dimension as the truncation criterion. Evidence is found for significant magnon-magnon attraction inducing a Higgs resonance. The high-energy roton minimum in the magnon dispersion appears to be induced by strong magnon-Higgs scattering.
Laser spectroscopy of phonons and rotons in superfluid helium doped with Dy atoms
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moroshkin, P.; Borel, A.; Kono, K.
2018-03-01
We report the results of a high-resolution laser-spectroscopy study of dysprosium atoms injected into superfluid 4He. A special attention is paid to the transitions between the inner 4 f and 5 d electronic shells of Dy. The characteristic gap is observed between the zero-phonon line and the phonon wing in the experimental excitation spectrum that arises due to the peculiar structure of the phonon-roton spectrum of superfluid He. This observation resolves the longstanding discrepancy between the studies of bulk superfluid He and He nanodroplets.
Roton Excitations and the Fluid-Solid Phase Transition in Superfluid 2D Yukawa Bosons
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Molinelli, S.; Galli, D. E.; Reatto, L.; Motta, M.
2016-10-01
We compute several ground-state properties and the dynamical structure factor of a zero-temperature system of Bosons interacting with the 2D screened Coulomb (2D-SC) potential. We resort to the exact shadow path integral ground state (SPIGS) quantum Monte Carlo method to compute the imaginary-time correlation function of the model, and to the genetic algorithm via falsification of theories (GIFT) to retrieve the dynamical structure factor. We provide a detailed comparison of ground-state properties and collective excitations of 2D-SC and ^4He atoms. The roton energy of the 2D-SC system is an increasing function of density, and not a decreasing one as in ^4He. This result is in contrast with the view that the roton is the soft mode of the fluid-solid transition. We uncover a remarkable quasi-universality of backflow and of other properties when expressed in terms of the amount of short-range order as quantified by the height of the first peak of the static structure factor.
Spectral sum rules and magneto-roton as emergent graviton in fractional quantum Hall effect
Golkar, Siavash; Nguyen, Dung X.; Son, Dam T.
2016-01-05
Here, we consider gapped fractional quantum Hall states on the lowest Landau level when the Coulomb energy is much smaller than the cyclotron energy. We introduce two spectral densities, ρ T(ω) andmore » $$\\bar{p}$$ T(ω), which are proportional to the probabilities of absorption of circularly polarized gravitons by the quantum Hall system. We prove three sum rules relating these spectral densities with the shift S, the q 4 coefficient of the static structure factor S 4, and the high-frequency shear modulus of the ground state μ ∞, which is precisely defined. We confirm an inequality, first suggested by Haldane, that S 4 is bounded from below by |S–1|/8. The Laughlin wavefunction saturates this bound, which we argue to imply that systems with ground state wavefunctions close to Laughlin’s absorb gravitons of predominantly one circular polarization. We consider a nonlinear model where the sum rules are saturated by a single magneto-roton mode. In this model, the magneto-roton arises from the mixing between oscillations of an internal metric and the hydrodynamic motion. Implications for experiments are briefly discussed.« less
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walker, Charles T.; Slack, Glen A.
1970-01-01
Originators of the concept coiners of the name are discussed for the following particles": boson, electron, exciton, fermion, magnon, neutron, phonon, photon, plasmon, polariton, polaron, proton, and roton. (Author/DS)
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Belyaev, S. T., E-mail: bst@kiae.ru
2016-06-15
We consider excitations that exist, in addition to phonons, in the ideal Bose gas at zero temperature. These excitations are vortex rings whose energy spectrum is similar to the roton one in liquid helium.
A thermodynamic model to predict electron mobility in superfluid helium.
Aitken, Frédéric; Volino, Ferdinand; Mendoza-Luna, Luis Guillermo; Haeften, Klaus von; Eloranta, Jussi
2017-06-21
Electron mobility in superfluid helium is modeled between 0.1 and 2.2 K by a van der Waals-type thermodynamic equation of state, which relates the free volume of solvated electrons to temperature, density, and phase dependent internal pressure. The model is first calibrated against known electron mobility reference data along the saturated vapor pressure line and then validated to reproduce the existing mobility literature values as a function of pressure and temperature with at least 10% accuracy. Four different electron mobility regimes are identified: (1) Landau critical velocity limit (T ≈ 0), (2) mobility limited by thermal phonons (T < 0.6 K), (3) thermal phonon and discrete roton scattering ("roton gas") limited mobility (0.6 K < T < 1.2 K), and (4) the viscous liquid ("roton continuum") limit (T > 1.2 K) where the ion solvation structure directly determines the mobility. In the latter regime, the Stokes equation can be used to estimate the hydrodynamic radius of the solvated electron based on its mobility and fluid viscosity. To account for the non-continuum behavior appearing below 1.2 K, the temperature and density dependent Millikan-Cunningham factor is introduced. The hydrodynamic electron bubble radii predicted by the present model appear generally larger than the solvation cavity interface barycenter values obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Based on the classical Stokes law, this difference can arise from the variation of viscosity and flow characteristics around the electron. The calculated DFT liquid density profiles show distinct oscillations at the vacuum/liquid interface, which increase the interface rigidity.
Theoretical modeling of electron mobility in superfluid {sup 4}He
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Aitken, Frédéric; Bonifaci, Nelly; Haeften, Klaus von
The Orsay-Trento bosonic density functional theory model is extended to include dissipation due to the viscous response of superfluid {sup 4}He present at finite temperatures. The viscous functional is derived from the Navier-Stokes equation by using the Madelung transformation and includes the contribution of interfacial viscous response present at the gas-liquid boundaries. This contribution was obtained by calibrating the model against the experimentally determined electron mobilities from 1.2 K to 2.1 K along the saturated vapor pressure line, where the viscous response is dominated by thermal rotons. The temperature dependence of ion mobility was calculated for several different solvation cavitymore » sizes and the data are rationalized in the context of roton scattering and Stokes limited mobility models. Results are compared to the experimentally observed “exotic ion” data, which provides estimates for the corresponding bubble sizes in the liquid. Possible sources of such ions are briefly discussed.« less
Raman spectroscopic studies of hydrogen clathrate hydrates.
Strobel, Timothy A; Sloan, E Dendy; Koh, Carolyn A
2009-01-07
Raman spectroscopic measurements of simple hydrogen and tetrahydrofuran+hydrogen sII clathrate hydrates have been performed. Both the roton and vibron bands illuminate interesting quantum dynamics of enclathrated H(2) molecules. The complex vibron region of the Raman spectrum has been interpreted by observing the change in population of these bands with temperature, measuring the absolute H(2) content as a function of pressure, and with D(2) isotopic substitution. Quadruple occupancy of the large sII clathrate cavity shows the highest H(2) vibrational frequency, followed by triple and double occupancies. Singly occupied small cavities display the lowest vibrational frequency. The vibrational frequencies of H(2) within all cavity environments are redshifted from the free gas phase value. At 76 K, the progression from ortho- to para-H(2) occurs over a relatively slow time period (days). The rotational degeneracy of H(2) molecules within the clathrate cavities is lifted, observed directly in splitting of the para-H(2) roton band. Raman spectra from H(2) and D(2) hydrates suggest that the occupancy patterns between the two hydrates are analogous, increasing confidence that D(2) is a suitable substitute for H(2). The measurements suggest that Raman is an effective and convenient method to determine the relative occupancy of hydrogen molecules in different clathrate cavities.
Theory of a Nearly Two-Dimensional Dipolar Bose Gas
2016-05-11
temperatures, and when roton excitations are present. Further, BECs in nearly 2D geometries take the form of quasi -condensates, or BECs with finite spatial...extent. Quasi -condensates behave like BECs on shorter length scales, but not on longer length scales. The project incorporates the presence of a quasi ... Quasi -Condensate 23 J. Superfluidity 25 III. Results 26 A. Three Dimensions with Contact Interactions 26 B. Two Dimensions with Contact Interactions
Quasiparticle pair creation in unstable superflow
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Elser, Veit
1995-06-01
Landau's instability mechanism in superflow is considered with special attention given to the role of nonuniformity in the flow. Linear stability analysis applied to the first in a series of approximate microscopic equations for the superfluid reveals a growth rate for Landau's instability proportional to the shear in the flow. In a quasiparticle description, the shear acts as a source of particle pair creation. The observation of roton-pair creation in experiments with electron bubbles in helium is offered as evidence of this phenomenon.
Damping-free collective oscillations of a driven two-component Bose gas in optical lattices
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shchedrin, Gavriil; Jaschke, Daniel; Carr, Lincoln D.
2018-04-01
We explore the quantum many-body physics of a driven Bose-Einstein condensate in optical lattices. The laser field induces a gap in the generalized Bogoliubov spectrum proportional to the effective Rabi frequency. The lowest-lying modes in a driven condensate are characterized by zero group velocity and nonzero current. Thus, the laser field induces roton modes, which carry interaction in a driven condensate. We show that collective excitations below the energy of the laser-induced gap remain undamped, while above the gap they are characterized by a significantly suppressed Landau damping rate.
Bose-Einstein condensate of rigid rotor molecules
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jones, Evan; Smith, Joseph; Rittenhouse, Seth; Peden, Brandon; Wilson, Ryan
2017-04-01
We study the ground state phases of a quasi-two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of dipolar rigid rotor molecules subject to a DC electric field. In the high-field limit, this system acquires the properties of the fully polarized dipolar BEC, which exhibits a roton-maxon excitation spectrum, and has been thoroughly studied in the theoretical literature. In the weak-field limit, however, qualitatively new physics emerges due to the competition between the (weak) applied field and internal electric fields, which are produced by the molecules themselves. We characterize the ground states of this system, and study its unique dielectric properties. We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHYS-1516421.
Dark Matter Detection Using Helium Evaporation and Field Ionization
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maris, Humphrey J.; Seidel, George M.; Stein, Derek
2017-11-01
We describe a method for dark matter detection based on the evaporation of helium atoms from a cold surface and their subsequent detection using field ionization. When a dark matter particle scatters off a nucleus of the target material, elementary excitations (phonons or rotons) are produced. Excitations which have an energy greater than the binding energy of helium to the surface can result in the evaporation of helium atoms. We propose to detect these atoms by ionizing them in a strong electric field. Because the binding energy of helium to surfaces can be below 1 meV, this detection scheme opens up new possibilities for the detection of dark matter particles in a mass range down to 1 MeV /c2 .
Dark Matter Detection Using Helium Evaporation and Field Ionization.
Maris, Humphrey J; Seidel, George M; Stein, Derek
2017-11-03
We describe a method for dark matter detection based on the evaporation of helium atoms from a cold surface and their subsequent detection using field ionization. When a dark matter particle scatters off a nucleus of the target material, elementary excitations (phonons or rotons) are produced. Excitations which have an energy greater than the binding energy of helium to the surface can result in the evaporation of helium atoms. We propose to detect these atoms by ionizing them in a strong electric field. Because the binding energy of helium to surfaces can be below 1 meV, this detection scheme opens up new possibilities for the detection of dark matter particles in a mass range down to 1 MeV/c^{2}.
Thermodynamically equilibrium roton states of nanoparticles in molten and vapour phases
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Karasevskii, A. I.
2015-05-01
We show a possibility for a thermodynamically equilibrium nanocrystalline structure consisting of nanosized solid inclusions to appear in a melt just beyond the melting curve. Thermodynamic stability of the nanocrystalline structure in the melt results from the free energy lowering due to rotational motion of nanoparticles. The main contribution to the reduction of the free energy of the system is due to an increase in the rotational entropy and change in formation energy of nanocrystals, i.e. the nanocrystalline structure in the melt, like vacancies in a crystal, is an equilibrium defect structure of the melt. It is demonstrated that similar nanocrystalline structures can also appear in the vapour phase in the form of liquid nanodrops and in liquid solutions, e.g. in He II.
Detection of Charged Particles in Superfluid Helium
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bandler, Simon Richard
1995-01-01
At the present time the measurement of the flux of neutrinos from the sun remains a challenging experimental problem. The ideal detector would be able to detect neutrinos at high rate, in real time, with good energy resolution and would have a threshold which is low enough for investigation of the entire solar neutrino spectrum. A new detection scheme using superfluid helium as a target has been proposed which has the potential to meet most of the criteria of the ideal detector. In this scheme a neutrino would be detected when it elastically scatters off an atomic electron in superfluid helium. The electron loses energy via a number of processes eventually leading to the generation of phonons and rotons in the liquid. At low temperatures these excitations propagate ballistically through the superfluid helium. When the excitations reach the free surface some of them are able to evaporate helium atoms. These atoms can be detected by an array of calorimeters suspended above the liquid surface. In this thesis, results are presented for a small -scale prototype of this type of detector. Experiments have been performed using various radioactive sources to generate energy depositions in the liquid. The results reveal details about the processes of generation of rotons and phonons, the propagation of these excitations through the superfluid, the evaporation of helium atoms and the adsorption of helium atoms onto the wafer. Results are also presented on the detection of fluorescent photons generated in the liquid. One source of energy depositions was 241{rm Am} which produces monoenergetic 5.5 MeV alpha particles. It was found that the ratio of the energy deposited in a calorimeter to the energy deposited in liquid helium was 0.084 when alpha's are emitted parallel to the liquid surface, and 0.020 for alpha's emitted perpendicular. The difference is due to the anisotropic distribution of helium excitations generated. A 113{rm Sn} source of 360 keV electrons stopped in superfluid helium have also produced signals in a calorimeter and this ratio was similar. Finally, the implications of these results to the design of a full-scale detector of solar neutrinos are discussed.
Dispersion Engineering of Bose-Einstein Condensates
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Khamehchi, Mohammad Amin
The subject of this dissertation is engineering the dispersion relation for dilute Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). When a BEC is immersed into suitably tailored laser fields its dispersion can be strongly modified. Prominent examples for such laser fields include optical lattice geometries and Raman dressing fields. The ability to engineer the dispersion of a BEC allows for the investigation of a range of phenomena related to quantum hydrodynamics and condensed matter. In the first context, this dissertation studies the excitation spectrum of a spin-orbit coupled (SOC) BEC. The spin-orbit coupling is generated by " dressing" the atoms with two Raman laser fields. The excitation spectrum has a Roton-like feature that can be altered by tuning the Raman laser parameters. It is demonstrated that the Roton mode can be softened, but it does not reach the ground state energy for the experimental conditions we had. Furthermore, the expansion of SOC BECs in 1D is studied by relaxing the trap allowing the BEC to expand in the SOC direction. Contrary to the findings for optical lattices, it is observed that the condensate partially occupies quasimomentum states with negative effective mass, and therefore an abrupt deceleration is observed although the mean field force is along the direction of expansion. In condensed-matter systems, a periodic lattice structure often plays an important role. In this context, an alternative to the Raman dressing scheme can be realized by coupling the s- and p- bands of a static optical lattice via a weak moving lattice. The bands can be treated as pseudo-spin states. It is shown that similar to the dispersion relation of a Raman dressed SOC, the quasimomentum of the ground state is different from zero. Coherent coupling of the SOC dispersion minima can lead to the realization of the stripe phase even though it is not the thermodynamic ground state of the system. Along the lines of studying the hydrodynamics of BECs, three novel multicomponent solitonic states are realized. It is shown that the solitons are structurally stable and the oscillation of vector dark-anti-dark solitons is studied in a weak harmonic trap.
Metal-insulator-superconductor transition of spin-3/2 atoms on optical lattices
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
De Silva, Theja N.
2018-01-01
We use a slave-rotor approach within a mean-field theory to study the competition of metallic, Mott-insulating, and superconducting phases of spin-3/2 fermions subjected to a periodic optical lattice potential. In addition to the metallic, the Mott-insulating, and the superconducting phases that are associated with the gauge symmetry breaking of the spinon field, we identify an emerging superconducting phase that breaks both roton and spinon field gauge symmetries. This superconducting phase emerges as a result of the competition between spin-0 singlet and spin-2 quintet interaction channels naturally available for spin-3/2 systems. The two superconducting phases can be distinguished from each other by quasiparticle weight. We further discuss the properties of these phases for both two-dimensional square and three-dimensional cubic lattices at zero and finite temperatures.
Low-energy excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate of rigid rotor molecules
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Smith, Joseph; Jones, Evan; Rittenhouse, Seth; Wilson, Ryan; Peden, Brandon
2017-04-01
We investigate the properties of the ground state and low-lying excitations of an oblate Bose-Einstein condensate composed of rigid rotor molecules in the presence of an external polarizing electric field. We build in a quantum model of molecular polarizability by including the full manifold of rotational states. The interplay between spatial and microscopic degrees of freedom via feedback between the molecular polarizability and inter-molecular dipole-dipole interactions leads to a rich quasi-particle spectrum. Under large applied fields, we reproduce the well-understood density-wave rotonization that appears in a fully polarized dipolar BEC, but under smaller applied fields, we predict the emergence of a spin wave instability and possible new stable ground state phases. We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHYS-1516421.
Exploring cavity-mediated long-range interactions in a dilute quantum gas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Landig, Renate; Mottl, Rafael; Brennecke, Ferdinand; Baumann, Kristian; Donner, Tobias; Esslinger, Tilman
2013-05-01
We report on the observation of a characteristic change in the excitation spectrum of a Bose-Einstein condensate and increased density fluctuations due to cavity-mediated atom-atom interactions. Increasing the strength of the interaction leads to a softening of an excitation mode at finite momentum, preceding a superfluid to supersolid phase transition. The observed behavior is reminiscent of a roton minimum, as predicted for quantum gases with long-range interactions. We create long-range interactions in the BEC using a non-resonant transverse pump beam which induces virtual photon exchange via the vacuum field of an optical cavity. The mode softening is spectroscopically studied across the phase transition using a variant of Bragg spectroscopy. At the phase transition a diverging density response is observed which is linked to increased density fluctuations. Using the cavity dissipation channel we monitor these fluctuations in real-time and identify the influence of measurement backaction onto the critical behavior of the system.
Hong, Tao; Qiu, Y.; Matsumoto, M.; ...
2017-05-05
The notion of a quasiparticle, such as a phonon, a roton or a magnon, is used in modern condensed matter physics to describe an elementary collective excitation. The intrinsic zero-temperature magnon damping in quantum spin systems can be driven by the interaction of the one-magnon states and multi-magnon continuum. However, detailed experimental studies on this quantum many-body effect induced by an applied magnetic field are rare. Here we present a high-resolution neutron scattering study in high fields on an S=1/2 antiferromagnet C 9H 18N 2CuBr 4. Finally, compared with the non-interacting linear spin–wave theory, our results demonstrate a variety ofmore » phenomena including field-induced renormalization of one-magnon dispersion, spontaneous magnon decay observed via intrinsic linewidth broadening, unusual non-Lorentzian two-peak structure in the excitation spectra and a dramatic shift of spectral weight from one-magnon state to the two-magnon continuum.« less
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hong, Tao; Qiu, Y.; Matsumoto, M.; Tennant, D. A.; Coester, K.; Schmidt, K. P.; Awwadi, F. F.; Turnbull, M. M.; Agrawal, H.; Chernyshev, A. L.
2017-05-01
The notion of a quasiparticle, such as a phonon, a roton or a magnon, is used in modern condensed matter physics to describe an elementary collective excitation. The intrinsic zero-temperature magnon damping in quantum spin systems can be driven by the interaction of the one-magnon states and multi-magnon continuum. However, detailed experimental studies on this quantum many-body effect induced by an applied magnetic field are rare. Here we present a high-resolution neutron scattering study in high fields on an S=1/2 antiferromagnet C9H18N2CuBr4. Compared with the non-interacting linear spin-wave theory, our results demonstrate a variety of phenomena including field-induced renormalization of one-magnon dispersion, spontaneous magnon decay observed via intrinsic linewidth broadening, unusual non-Lorentzian two-peak structure in the excitation spectra and a dramatic shift of spectral weight from one-magnon state to the two-magnon continuum.
Realizing Fulde-Ferrell Superfluids via a Dark-State Control of Feshbach Resonances
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
He, Lianyi; Hu, Hui; Liu, Xia-Ji
2018-01-01
We propose that the long-sought Fulde-Ferrell superfluidity with nonzero momentum pairing can be realized in ultracold two-component Fermi gases of
Hong, Tao; Qiu, Y.; Matsumoto, M.; Tennant, D. A.; Coester, K.; Schmidt, K. P.; Awwadi, F. F.; Turnbull, M. M.; Agrawal, H.; Chernyshev, A. L.
2017-01-01
The notion of a quasiparticle, such as a phonon, a roton or a magnon, is used in modern condensed matter physics to describe an elementary collective excitation. The intrinsic zero-temperature magnon damping in quantum spin systems can be driven by the interaction of the one-magnon states and multi-magnon continuum. However, detailed experimental studies on this quantum many-body effect induced by an applied magnetic field are rare. Here we present a high-resolution neutron scattering study in high fields on an S=1/2 antiferromagnet C9H18N2CuBr4. Compared with the non-interacting linear spin–wave theory, our results demonstrate a variety of phenomena including field-induced renormalization of one-magnon dispersion, spontaneous magnon decay observed via intrinsic linewidth broadening, unusual non-Lorentzian two-peak structure in the excitation spectra and a dramatic shift of spectral weight from one-magnon state to the two-magnon continuum. PMID:28474679
Hong, Tao; Qiu, Y; Matsumoto, M; Tennant, D A; Coester, K; Schmidt, K P; Awwadi, F F; Turnbull, M M; Agrawal, H; Chernyshev, A L
2017-05-05
The notion of a quasiparticle, such as a phonon, a roton or a magnon, is used in modern condensed matter physics to describe an elementary collective excitation. The intrinsic zero-temperature magnon damping in quantum spin systems can be driven by the interaction of the one-magnon states and multi-magnon continuum. However, detailed experimental studies on this quantum many-body effect induced by an applied magnetic field are rare. Here we present a high-resolution neutron scattering study in high fields on an S=1/2 antiferromagnet C 9 H 18 N 2 CuBr 4 . Compared with the non-interacting linear spin-wave theory, our results demonstrate a variety of phenomena including field-induced renormalization of one-magnon dispersion, spontaneous magnon decay observed via intrinsic linewidth broadening, unusual non-Lorentzian two-peak structure in the excitation spectra and a dramatic shift of spectral weight from one-magnon state to the two-magnon continuum.
Excitations in the quantum liquid 4He: A review
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Glyde, H. R.
2018-01-01
Progress made in measuring and interpreting the elementary excitations of superfluid and normal liquid {\\hspace{0pt}}^4He in the past 25 years is reviewed. The goal is to bring up to date the data, calculations and our understanding of the excitations since the books and reviews of the early 1990s. Only bulk liquid {\\hspace{0pt}}^4He is considered. Reference to liquid {\\hspace{0pt}}^3He , mixtures, reduced dimensions (films and confined helium) is made where useful to enhance interpretation. The focus is on the excitations as measured by inelastic neutron scattering methods. The review covers the dynamical response of liquid {\\hspace{0pt}}^4He from the collective excitations at low energy and long wavelength (i.e. phonon-roton modes) to the single particle excitations at high energy from which the atomic momentum distribution and Bose-Einstein condensate fraction are determined. A goal is to show the interplay of these excitations with other spectacular properties such as superfluidity and the test of fundamental calculations of quantum liquids that is possible. The role of Bose-Einstein condensation in determining the nature of the \
Quantum Landau damping in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mendonça, J. T.; Terças, H.; Gammal, A.
2018-06-01
We consider Landau damping of elementary excitations in Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) with dipolar interactions. We discuss quantum and quasiclassical regimes of Landau damping. We use a generalized wave-kinetic description of BECs which, apart from the long-range dipolar interactions, also takes into account the quantum fluctuations and the finite-energy corrections to short-range interactions. Such a description is therefore more general than the usual mean-field approximation. The present wave-kinetic approach is well suited for the study of kinetic effects in BECs, such as those associated with Landau damping, atom trapping, and turbulent diffusion. The inclusion of quantum fluctuations and energy corrections changes the dispersion relation and the damping rates, leading to possible experimental signatures of these effects. Quantum Landau damping is described with generality, and particular examples of dipolar condensates in two and three dimensions are studied. The occurrence of roton-maxon excitations, and their relevance to Landau damping, are also considered in detail. The present approach is mainly based on a linear perturbative procedure, but the nonlinear regime of Landau damping, which includes atom trapping and atom diffusion, is also briefly discussed.
Mitochondrial Genome Integrity Mutations Uncouple the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATP Synthase*║
Wang, Yamin; Singh, Usha; Mueller, David M.
2013-01-01
The mitochondrial ATP synthase is a molecular motor, which couples the flow of rotons with phosphorylation of ADP. Rotation of the central stalk within the core of ATP synthase effects conformational changes in the active sites driving the synthesis of ATP. Mitochondrial genome integrity (mgi) mutations have been previously identified in the α-, β-, and γ-subunits of ATP synthase in yeast Kluyveromyces lactis and trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. These mutations reverse the lethality of the loss of mitochondrial DNA in petite negative strains. Introduction of the homologous mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae results in yeast strains that lose mitochondrial DNA at a high rate and accompanied decreases in the coupling of the ATP synthase. The structure of yeast F1-ATPase reveals that the mgi residues cluster around the γ-subunit and selectively around the collar region of F1. These results indicate that residues within the mgi complementation group are necessary for efficient coupling of ATP synthase, possibly acting as a support to fix the axis of rotation of the central stalk. PMID:17244612
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pan, Jian-Song; Zhang, Wei; Yi, Wei; Guo, Guang-Can
2016-10-01
In a recent experiment (Z. Wu, L. Zhang, W. Sun, X.-T. Xu, B.-Z. Wang, S.-C. Ji, Y. Deng, S. Chen, X.-J. Liu, and J.-W. Pan, arXiv:1511.08170 [cond-mat.quant-gas]), a Raman-assisted two-dimensional spin-orbit coupling has been realized for a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice potential. In light of this exciting progress, we study in detail key properties of the system. As the Raman lasers inevitably couple atoms to high-lying bands, the behaviors of the system in both the single- and many-particle sectors are significantly affected. In particular, the high-band effects enhance the plane-wave phase and lead to the emergence of "roton" gaps at low Zeeman fields. Furthermore, we identify high-band-induced topological phase boundaries in both the single-particle and the quasiparticle spectra. We then derive an effective two-band model, which captures the high-band physics in the experimentally relevant regime. Our results not only offer valuable insights into the two-dimensional lattice spin-orbit coupling, but also provide a systematic formalism to model high-band effects in lattice systems with Raman-assisted spin-orbit couplings.
Light dark matter in superfluid helium: Detection with multi-excitation production
Knapen, Simon; Lin, Tongyan; Zurek, Kathryn M.
2017-03-22
We examine in depth a recent proposal to utilize superfluid helium for direct detection of sub-MeV mass dark matter. For sub-keV recoil energies, nuclear scattering events in liquid helium primarily deposit energy into long-lived phonon and roton quasiparticle excitations. If the energy thresholds of the detector can be reduced to the meV scale, then dark matter as light as ~MeV can be reached with ordinary nuclear recoils. If, on the other hand, two or more quasiparticle excitations are directly produced in the dark matter interaction, the kinematics of the scattering allows sensitivity to dark matter as light as ~keV atmore » the same energy resolution. We present in detail the theoretical framework for describing excitations in superfluid helium, using it to calculate the rate for the leading dark matter scattering interaction, where an off-shell phonon splits into two or more higher-momentum excitations. Here, we validate our analytic results against the measured and simulated dynamic response of superfluid helium. Finally, we apply this formalism to the case of a kinetically mixed hidden photon in the superfluid, both with and without an external electric field to catalyze the processes.« less
Ultracold-neutron production and up-scattering in superfluid helium between 1.1 K and 2.4 K
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leung, K. K. H.; Ivanov, S.; Piegsa, F. M.; Simson, M.; Zimmer, O.
2016-02-01
Ultracold neutrons (UCNs) were produced in superfluid helium using the PF1B cold-neutron beam facility at the Institut Laue-Langevin. A 4-liter beryllium-coated converter volume with a mechanical valve and windowless stainless-steel extraction system were used to accumulate and guide UCNs to a detector at room temperature. At a converter temperature of 1.08 K the total storage time constant in the vessel was (20.3 ±1.2 )s and the number of UCNs counted after accumulated was 91 700 ±300 . From this, we derive a volumetric UCN production rate of (6.9 ±1.7 ) cm-3s-1 , which includes a correction for losses in the converter during UCN extraction caused by the short storage time, but not accounting for UCN transport and detection efficiencies. The up-scattering rate of UCNs caused by excitations in the superfluid was studied by scanning the temperature between 1.2 K and 2.4 K . Using the temperature-dependent UCN production rate calculated from inelastic neutron scattering data, the only UCN up-scattering process found to occur was from two-phonon scattering. Our analysis for T <1.95 K rules out the contributions from roton-phonon scattering to <29 % (95% C.I.) and from one-phonon absorption to <47 % (95% C.I.) of their predicted levels.
Thermo-optically induced interactions in photon Bose-Einstein Condensates
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alaeian, Hadiseh; Bartels, Clara; Weitz, Martin
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), a new state of matter, emerges when the de Broglie wavelength of bosons becomes larger than the particle separation, leading to a macroscopic occupation of the system ground state. Followed by the first experimental demonstrations of BEC in cold atomic gases, this phase transition has been observed in other bosonic gases, as polaritons and phonons. The most recent one, photon BEC, is a promising candidate for a new generation of coherent photon sources. Due to their infancy, however, many of their properties are still unknown or only partly explored. In this talk I will present my latest results on the implications of photon interactions in photon BECs. In particular, I will investigate the effect of a thermo-optic non-linearity, leading to spatially non-local and delayed interactions. Starting from the steady state behavior, I will explore the spectrum of elementary excitations as a small perturbation. Moreover, I will discuss the resulting effective photon dispersion, manifesting various properties including possible superfluidity, as well as roton and maxon modes. The implications of physical parameters as absorption, number of photons in the condensate, and cavity trap on the dispersion will be discussed. The results of this study shed new light on the implication of interactions in photonic many-body systems. Hadiseh Alaeian acknowledges the generous support from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Modeling quantum fluid dynamics at nonzero temperatures
Berloff, Natalia G.; Brachet, Marc; Proukakis, Nick P.
2014-01-01
The detailed understanding of the intricate dynamics of quantum fluids, in particular in the rapidly growing subfield of quantum turbulence which elucidates the evolution of a vortex tangle in a superfluid, requires an in-depth understanding of the role of finite temperature in such systems. The Landau two-fluid model is the most successful hydrodynamical theory of superfluid helium, but by the nature of the scale separations it cannot give an adequate description of the processes involving vortex dynamics and interactions. In our contribution we introduce a framework based on a nonlinear classical-field equation that is mathematically identical to the Landau model and provides a mechanism for severing and coalescence of vortex lines, so that the questions related to the behavior of quantized vortices can be addressed self-consistently. The correct equation of state as well as nonlocality of interactions that leads to the existence of the roton minimum can also be introduced in such description. We review and apply the ideas developed for finite-temperature description of weakly interacting Bose gases as possible extensions and numerical refinements of the proposed method. We apply this method to elucidate the behavior of the vortices during expansion and contraction following the change in applied pressure. We show that at low temperatures, during the contraction of the vortex core as the negative pressure grows back to positive values, the vortex line density grows through a mechanism of vortex multiplication. This mechanism is suppressed at high temperatures. PMID:24704874
Two liquid states of matter: a dynamic line on a phase diagram.
Brazhkin, V V; Fomin, Yu D; Lyapin, A G; Ryzhov, V N; Trachenko, K
2012-03-01
It is generally agreed that the supercritical region of a liquid consists of one single state (supercritical fluid). On the other hand, we show here that liquids in this region exist in two qualitatively different states: "rigid" and "nonrigid" liquids. Rigid to nonrigid transition corresponds to the condition τ≈τ(0), where τ is the liquid relaxation time and τ(0) is the minimal period of transverse quasiharmonic waves. This condition defines a new dynamic crossover line on the phase diagram and corresponds to the loss of shear stiffness of a liquid at all available frequencies and, consequently, to the qualitative change in many important liquid properties. We analyze this line theoretically as well as in real and model fluids and show that the transition corresponds to the disappearance of high-frequency sound, to the disappearance of roton minima, qualitative changes in the temperature dependencies of sound velocity, diffusion, viscous flow, and thermal conductivity, an increase in particle thermal speed to half the speed of sound, and a reduction in the constant volume specific heat to 2k(B) per particle. In contrast to the Widom line that exists near the critical point only, the new dynamic line is universal: It separates two liquid states at arbitrarily high pressure and temperature and exists in systems where liquid-gas transition and the critical point are absent altogether. We propose to call the new dynamic line on the phase diagram "Frenkel line".
Excitations in the Yang–Gaudin Bose gas
Robinson, Neil J.; Konik, Robert M.
2017-06-01
Here, we study the excitation spectrum of two-component delta-function interacting bosons confined to a single spatial dimension, the Yang–Gaudin Bose gas. We show that there are pronounced finite-size effects in the dispersion relations of excitations, perhaps best illustrated by the spinon single particle dispersion which exhibits a gap at 2k F and a finite-momentum roton-like minimum. Such features occur at energies far above the finite volume excitation gap, vanish slowly as 1/L for fixed spinon number, and can persist to the thermodynamic limit at fixed spinon density. Features such as the 2k F gap also persist to multi-particle excitation continua. Our results show that excitations in the finite system can behave in a qualitatively different manner to analogous excitations in the thermodynamic limit. The Yang–Gaudin Bose gas is also host to multi-spinon bound states, known asmore » $$\\Lambda$$ -strings. We study these excitations both in the thermodynamic limit under the string hypothesis and in finite size systems where string deviations are taken into account. In the zero-temperature limit we present a simple relation between the length n $$\\Lambda$$-string dressed energies $$\\epsilon_n(\\lambda)$$ and the dressed energy $$\\epsilon(k)$$. We solve the Yang–Yang–Takahashi equations numerically and compare to the analytical solution obtained under the strong couple expansion, revealing that the length n $$\\Lambda$$ -string dressed energy is Lorentzian over a wide range of real string centers λ in the vicinity of $$\\lambda = 0$$ . We then examine the finite size effects present in the dispersion of the two-spinon bound states by numerically solving the Bethe ansatz equations with string deviations.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Robinson, Neil J.; Konik, Robert M.
Here, we study the excitation spectrum of two-component delta-function interacting bosons confined to a single spatial dimension, the Yang–Gaudin Bose gas. We show that there are pronounced finite-size effects in the dispersion relations of excitations, perhaps best illustrated by the spinon single particle dispersion which exhibits a gap at 2k F and a finite-momentum roton-like minimum. Such features occur at energies far above the finite volume excitation gap, vanish slowly as 1/L for fixed spinon number, and can persist to the thermodynamic limit at fixed spinon density. Features such as the 2k F gap also persist to multi-particle excitation continua. Our results show that excitations in the finite system can behave in a qualitatively different manner to analogous excitations in the thermodynamic limit. The Yang–Gaudin Bose gas is also host to multi-spinon bound states, known asmore » $$\\Lambda$$ -strings. We study these excitations both in the thermodynamic limit under the string hypothesis and in finite size systems where string deviations are taken into account. In the zero-temperature limit we present a simple relation between the length n $$\\Lambda$$-string dressed energies $$\\epsilon_n(\\lambda)$$ and the dressed energy $$\\epsilon(k)$$. We solve the Yang–Yang–Takahashi equations numerically and compare to the analytical solution obtained under the strong couple expansion, revealing that the length n $$\\Lambda$$ -string dressed energy is Lorentzian over a wide range of real string centers λ in the vicinity of $$\\lambda = 0$$ . We then examine the finite size effects present in the dispersion of the two-spinon bound states by numerically solving the Bethe ansatz equations with string deviations.« less
Lev Landau: A View from the West
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hohenberg, Pierre
2009-03-01
The tragic accident which ended Landau's scientific career at an early age meant that Lev Landau was known personally to only a small number of western scientists. His remarkable influence on twentieth century physics thus came from his published work and indirectly from the members of the famed Landau school, who are so well represented at this Symposium. Regarding the published work, I would distinguish three distinct ways in which Landau's influence has been felt. The most obvious is the set of seminal papers on a broad set of topics ranging from Landau diamagnetism, to the phonon-roton theory and two-fluid hydrodynamics of ^4He, Fermi-liquid theory and zero sound, the theory of second-order phase transitions, the Landau-Hopf theory of fluid turbulence and many more. The second class of contributions consists of the famed Landau-Lifshitz Course of Theoretical Physics, which first appeared in the West in the late fifties and early sixties. In many ways the third aspect of Landau's influence, although more difficult to define, is probably even more significant. This is Landau's pervasive presence in a large number of the major theoretical advances in condensed matter and statistical physics throughout the second half of the twentieth century. So many major developments can be viewed as elaborations, advances and - yes - corrections to the foundational theories and points of view laid down by Landau. One example is the theory of superfluidity in Bose liquids, for which one may ask why Landau resisted London's explanation in terms of Bose condensation, which has turned out to be important after all. A second example is the Fermi liquid theory and important later developments stemming from superfluid transitions or effects of strong correlations. A third example is the theory of second-order phase transitions which lays the foundations for the study of critical phenomena using the renormalization group. In each case one marvels at the important foundational role played by Landau's work and one may ask to what extent he himself anticipated the later developments. It is hoped that the subsequent speakers might address some of these questions.
Quantum phase transition in strongly correlated systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jiang, Longhua
In this thesis, we investigated the strongly correlated phenomena in bilayer quantum Hall effect, inhomogeneous superconductivity and Boson Hubbard model. Bilayer quantum Hall system is studied in chapter 2. By using the Composite Boson (CB) theory developed by J. Ye, we derive the ground state, quasihole and a quasihole-pair wave functions from the CB theory and its dual action. We find that the ground state wave function is the product of two parts, one in the charge sector which is the well known Halperin's (111) wave function and the other in the spin sector which is non-trivial at any finite d due to the gapless mode. So the total groundstate wave function differs from the well known (111) wave function at any finite d. In addition to commonly known multiplicative factors, the quasihole and quasihole-pair wave functions also contain non-trivial normalization factors multiplying the correct ground state wave function. Then we continue to study the quantum phase transition from the excitonic superfluid (ESF) to a possible pseudo-spin density wave (PSDW) at some intermediate distances driven by the magneto-roton minimum collapsing at a finite wavevector. We analyze the properties of the PSDW and explicitly show that a square lattice is the favored lattice. We suggest that correlated hopping of vacancies in the active and passive layers in the PSDW state leads to very large and temperature-dependent drag, consistent with the experimental data. Comparisons with previous microscopic numerical calculations are made. Further experimental implications are given. In chapter 3, we investigate inhomogeneous superconductivity. Starting from the Ginzburg-Landau free energy describing the normal state to Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state transition, we evaluate the free energy of seven most common lattice structures: stripe, square, triangular, Simple Cubic (SC), Face centered Cubic (FCC), Body centered Cubic (BCC) and Quasicrystal (QC). We find that the stripe phase, which is the original LO state, is the most stable phase. This result may be relevant to the detection of the FFLO state in some heavy fermion compounds and the pairing lattice structure of fermions with unequal populations on the BCS side of the Feshbach resonance in ultra-cold atoms. In chapter 4, the Boson Hubbard model is studied by duality transformation. Interacting bosons at filling factor f = p/q hopping on a lattice can be mapped to interacting vortices hopping on the dual lattice subject to a fluctuating dual " magnetic field" whose average strength through a dual plaquette is equal to the boson density f = p/q. So the kinetic term of the vortices is the same as the Hofstadter problem of electrons moving in a lattice in the presence of f = p/q flux per plaquette. Motivated by this mapping, we study the Hofstadter bands of vortices hopping in the presence of magnetic flux f = p/q per plaquette on the 5 most common bipartite and frustrated lattices namely square, honeycomb, triangular, dice and kagome lattices. We count the total number of bands and determine the number of minima in the lowest band and their locations. We also numerically calculate the bandwidths of the lowest Hofstadter bands in these lattices, which directly measure the mobility of the dual vortices. The less mobile the dual vortices are, the more likely the bosons are in a superfluid state. We find that, except for the kagome lattice at odd q, they all satisfy the exponential decay law W = Ae-cq even at the smallest q. At given q, the bandwidth W decreases in the order: triangle, square and honeycomb lattice. This indicates that the domain of the superfluid state of the original bosons increases in the order of the corresponding direct lattices: honeycome, square and triangular. When q = 2, we find that the lowest Hofstadter band is completely flat for both kagome and dice lattices. There is a gap on the kagome lattice, but no gap on dice lattice. This indicates that the boson ground state at half filling with nearest neighbor hopping on kagome lattice is always a superfluid state. The superfluid state remains stable slightly away from half filling. Our results show that the behaviors of bosons at or near half filling on kagome lattice are quite distinct from those on square, honeycomb and triangular lattices studied previously.