Interaction-Driven Dynamics of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in an Optical Lattice

ORAL

Abstract

Ultracold clouds of atoms placed into carefully designed optical lattice potentials form an excellent tool for probing the dynamics of interacting, quantum mechanical particles. In this work, we investigate the properties of non-linear Bloch bands of Bose-Einstein condensates that come into existence for sufficiently strong interactions between the atoms. In our experiments, we analyze the properties of non-linear Bloch bands by applying optical lattices and performing well-controlled lattice accelerations. The experiments reveal non-exponential tunneling of atoms which is conceptually connected to predicted loop structures. Our observation of non-exponential tunneling provides a clear demonstration of the power of ultracold atoms for investigating complex quantum mechanical dynamics.

*This work used the OU Supercomputing Center for Education and Research (OSCER) at the University of Oklahoma (OU). We acknowledge funding from NSF under grants PHY-1607495, PHY-1912540, and PHY-1806259.

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Authors

  • M. K. H. Ome

    • Washington State Univ
    • Washington State University

  • T. Bersano

    • Washington State University

  • S. Mossman

    • Washington State University

  • P. Engels

    • Washington State University
    • Washington State Univ
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University

  • Qingze Guan

    • University of Oklahoma
    • Univ of Oklahoma
    • Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Quantum Research and Technology, The University of Oklahoma
    • Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Quantum Research and Technology (CQRT), University of Oklahoma
    • Temple Univ

  • D. Blume

    • University of Oklahoma
    • Univ of Oklahoma
    • Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Quantum Research and Technology (CQRT), University of Oklahoma