Phase separation and pattern formation in a binary Bose-Einstein condensate
Abstract
The miscibility-immiscibility phase transition in binary Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can be controlled by a coupling between the two components. Here we propose a new scheme that uses coupling-induced pattern formation to test the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) of topological-defect formation in a quantum phase transition. For a binary BEC in a ring trap we find that the number of domains forming the pattern scales with the coupling quench rate with an exponent as predicted by the KZM. For a binary BEC in an elongated harmonic trap we find a different scaling law due to the transition being spatially inhomogeneous. We perform a "simulation" of the harmonically trapped system in a ring trap to verify the scaling exponent.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1106.5843,
title = {Phase separation and pattern formation in a binary Bose-Einstein condensate},
author = {Jacopo Sabbatini and Wojciech H. Zurek and Matthew J. Davis},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1106.5843},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figure