High-Order Quantum Resonances Observed in a Periodically Kicked Bose-Einstein Condensate

Abstract

We have observed high-order quantum resonances in a realization of the quantum delta-kicked rotor, using Bose-condensed Na atoms subjected to a pulsed standing wave of laser light. These resonances occur for pulse intervals that are rational fractions of the Talbot time, and are characterized by ballistic momentum transfer to the atoms. The condensate's narrow momentum distribution not only permits the observation of the quantum resonances at 3/4 and 1/3 of the Talbot time, but also allows us to study scaling laws for the resonance width in quasimomentum and pulse interval.

Kicked-rotor quantum resonances in position space

“…Experimentally, the optimum situation for observing QRs is to perform a quasimomentum selection, either by using stimulated Raman transitions [29,46,47] or by using a Bose-Einstein condensate [14,27,28]. However, it is possible to detect QRs with atoms issued of a magnetooptical trap if one can measure the full momentum distribution with enough precision to see the ballistic parts of the wavefunction separating out of the diffusive part for long enough times, as experimentally evidenced by d'Arcy et al [23].…”

“…Quantum resonances have been used in studies of fundamental aspects of quantum chaos such as quantum stabilization [25] or measurements of the gravitation [26]. "High-order" quantum resonances were also observed recently [27,28,29] both with a BoseEinstein condensate and laser-cooled atoms.…”

Atom-optics approach to studying transport phenomena

“…We describe how this can enable the simulation of near-arbitrary single particle models, including two-dimensional Abelian U(1) lattice models describing integer Hall systems [31]. Additionally, we show how another well established atoms optics tool -stimulated Raman transitions that change both the internal state and momentum of atoms [32,33] -can be used to study non-Abelian U(2) gauge fields, which to date have been difficult to realize in photonic and cold atom settings.The proposed scheme builds on a large body of work involving the study of transport phenomena using the evolution of momentum-space distributions of cold atomic gases [12,[34][35][36][37], including recent precision studies of the three-dimensional Anderson insulator-metal transition [38][39][40]. While the majority of such studies have involved time-dependent driving by lattice potentials not arXiv:1601.05818v1 [cond-mat.quant-gas]…”

“…The proposed scheme builds on a large body of work involving the study of transport phenomena using the evolution of momentum-space distributions of cold atomic gases [12,[34][35][36][37], including recent precision studies of the three-dimensional Anderson insulator-metal transition [38][39][40]. While the majority of such studies have involved time-dependent driving by lattice potentials not arXiv:1601.05818v1 [cond-mat.quant-gas]…”

“…The proposed scheme builds on a large body of work involving the study of transport phenomena using the evolution of momentum-space distributions of cold atomic gases [12,[34][35][36][37], including recent precision studies of the three-dimensional Anderson insulator-metal transition [38][39][40]. While the majority of such studies have involved time-dependent driving by lattice potentials not fulfilling a resonant Bragg condition, notably in the realization [12,[38][39][40][41] of quantum kicked rotor models [42,43], here our proposed method operates deep within the resonant Bragg diffraction regime.…”