Quantum Bubbles in Microgravity.

The recent developments of microgravity experiments with ultracold atoms have produced a relevant boost in the study of shell-shaped ellipsoidal Bose-Einstein condensates. For realistic bubble-trap parameters, here we calculate the critical temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation, which, if compared to the one of the bare harmonic trap with the same frequencies, shows a strong reduction. We simulate the zero-temperature density distribution with the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, and we study the free expansion of the hollow condensate. While part of the atoms expands in the outward direction, the condensate self-interferes inside the bubble trap, filling the hole in experimentally observable times. For a mesoscopic number of particles in a strongly interacting regime, for which more refined approaches are needed, we employ quantum Monte Carlo simulations, proving that the nontrivial topology of a thin shell allows superfluidity. Our work constitutes a reliable benchmark for the forthcoming scientific investigations with bubble traps.

Bose-Einstein Condensation on the Surface of a Sphere.

Motivated by the recent achievement of space-based Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) with ultracold alkali-metal atoms under microgravity and by the proposal of bubble traps which confine atoms on a thin shell, we investigate the BEC thermodynamics on the surface of a sphere. We determine analytically the critical temperature and the condensate fraction of a noninteracting Bose gas. Then we consider the inclusion of a zero-range interatomic potential, extending the noninteracting results at zero and finite temperature. Both in the noninteracting and interacting cases the crucial role of the finite radius of the sphere is emphasized, showing that in the limit of infinite radius one recovers the familiar two-dimensional results. We also investigate the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition driven by vortical configurations on the surface of the sphere, analyzing the interplay of condensation and superfluidity in this finite-size system.

Vortex lattice in the crossover of a Bose gas from weak coupling to unitarity.

The formation of a regular lattice of quantized vortices in a fluid under rotation is a smoking-gun signature of its superfluid nature. Here we study the vortex lattice in a dilute superfluid gas of bosonic atoms at zero temperature along the crossover from the weak-coupling regime, where the inter-atomic scattering length is very small compared to the average distance between atoms, to the unitarity regime, where the inter-atomic scattering length diverges. This study is based on high-performance numerical simulations of the time-dependent nonlinear Schrödinger equation for the superfluid order parameter in three spatial dimensions, using a realistic analytical expression for the bulk equation of state of the system along the crossover from weak-coupling to unitarity. This equation of state has the correct weak-coupling and unitarity limits and faithfully reproduces the results of an accurate multi-orbital microscopic calculation. Our numerical predictions of the number of vortices and root-mean-square sizes are important benchmarks for future experiments.

Vortices and antivortices in two-dimensional ultracold Fermi gases.

Vortices are commonly observed in the context of classical hydrodynamics: from whirlpools after stirring the coffee in a cup to a violent atmospheric phenomenon such as a tornado, all classical vortices are characterized by an arbitrary circulation value of the local velocity field. On the other hand the appearance of vortices with quantized circulation represents one of the fundamental signatures of macroscopic quantum phenomena. In two-dimensional superfluids quantized vortices play a key role in determining finite-temperature properties, as the superfluid phase and the normal state are separated by a vortex unbinding transition, the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Very recent experiments with two-dimensional superfluid fermions motivate the present work: we present theoretical results based on the renormalization group showing that the universal jump of the superfluid density and the critical temperature crucially depend on the interaction strength, providing a strong benchmark for forthcoming investigations.

Nonuniversal Equation of State of the Two-Dimensional Bose Gas.

For a dilute two-dimensional Bose gas the universal equation of state has a logarithmic dependence on the s-wave scattering length. Here we derive nonuniversal corrections to this equation of state, taking account of finite-range effects of the interatomic potential. Our beyond-mean-field analytical results are obtained performing dimensional regularization of divergent zero-point quantum fluctuations within the finite-temperature formalism of functional integration. In particular, we find that in the grand canonical ensemble the pressure has a nonpolynomial dependence on the finite- range parameter and it is a highly nontrivial function of chemical potential and temperature.

Two routes to the one-dimensional discrete nonpolynomial Schrodinger equation.

The Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), confined in a combination of the cigar-shaped trap and axial optical lattice, is studied in the framework of two models described by two versions of the one-dimensional (1D) discrete nonpolynomial Schrodinger equation (NPSE). Both models are derived from the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation (3D GPE). To produce "model 1" (which was derived in recent works), the 3D GPE is first reduced to the 1D continual NPSE, which is subsequently discretized. "Model 2," which was not considered before, is derived by first discretizing the 3D GPE, which is followed by the reduction in the dimension. The two models seem very different; in particular, model 1 is represented by a single discrete equation for the 1D wave function, while model 2 includes an additional equation for the transverse width. Nevertheless, numerical analyses show similar behaviors of fundamental unstaggered solitons in both systems, as concerns their existence region and stability limits. Both models admit the collapse of the localized modes, reproducing the fundamental property of the self-attractive BEC confined in tight traps. Thus, we conclude that the fundamental properties of discrete solitons predicted for the strongly trapped self-attracting BEC are reliable, as the two distinct models produce them in a nearly identical form. However, a difference between the models is found too, as strongly pinned (very narrow) discrete solitons, which were previously found in model 1, are not generated by model 2-in fact, in agreement with the continual 1D NPSE, which does not have such solutions either. In that respect, the newly derived model provides for a more accurate approximation for the trapped BEC.

1/f alpha noise in spectral fluctuations of quantum systems.

The power law 1/f(alpha) in the power spectrum characterizes the fluctuating observables of many complex natural systems. Considering the energy levels of a quantum system as a discrete time series where the energy plays the role of time, the level fluctuations can be characterized by the power spectrum. Using a family of quantum billiards, we analyze the order-to-chaos transition in terms of this power spectrum. A power law 1/f(alpha) is found at all the transition stages, and it is shown that the exponent alpha is related to the chaotic component of the classical phase space of the quantum system.

Modulational instability and complex dynamics of confined matter-wave solitons.

We study the formation of bright solitons in a Bose-Einstein condensate of 7Li atoms induced by a sudden change in the sign of the scattering length from positive to negative, as reported in a recent experiment [Nature (London) 417, 150 (2002)]]. The numerical simulations are performed by using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a dissipative three-body term. We show that a number of bright solitons is produced and this can be interpreted in terms of the modulational instability of the time-dependent macroscopic wave function of the Bose condensate. In particular, we derive a simple formula for the number of solitons that is in good agreement with the numerical results. We find that during the motion of the soliton train in an axial harmonic potential the number of solitonic peaks changes in time and the density of individual peaks shows an intermittent behavior.

Pathological behavior in the spectral statistics of the asymmetric rotor model.

The aim of this work is to study the spectral statistics of the asymmetric rotor model (triaxial rigid rotator). The asymmetric top is classically integrable and, according to the Berry-Tabor theory, its spectral statistics should be Poissonian. Surprisingly, our numerical results show that the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution P(s) and the spectral rigidity Delta(3)(L) do not follow Poisson statistics. In particular, P(s) shows a sharp peak at s=1 while Delta(3)(L) for small values of L follows the Poissonian predictions and asymptotically it shows large fluctuations around its mean value. Finally, we analyze the information entropy, which shows a dissolution of quantum numbers by breaking the axial symmetry of the rigid rotator.