Adiabatic and Non-adiabatic quenches in a Spin-1 Bose Einstein Condensate

A quantum phase transition (QPT) is observed in a wide range of phenomena. We have studied the dynamics of a spin-1 ferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic quenches through a QPT. At the quantum critical point (QCP), finite size effects lead to a non-zero gap, which makes an adiabatic quench possible through the QPT. We experimentally demonstrate such a quench, which is forbidden at the mean field level. For faster quenches through the QCP, the vanishing energy gap causes the reaction timescale of the system to diverge, preventing the system from adiabatically following the ground state. We measure the temporal evolution of the spin populations for different quench speeds and determine the exponents characterizing the scaling of the onset of excitations, which are in good agreement with the predictions of Kibble-Zurek mechanism [1]. \\ $^1$ M. Anquez et al, arXiv:1512.06914