Parametric tuning of quantum phase transitions in ultracold reactions

Journal Article · 26 November 2024 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54489-3 · OSTI ID:2479487

Sadhasivam, Vijay Ganesh  ^[1]; Suzuki, Fumika  ^[2]; Yan, Bin  ^[2]; Sinitsyn, Nikolai A.  ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
2. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Advances in atomic physics have led to the possibility of a coherent transformation between ultracold atoms and molecules including between completely bosonic condensates. Such transformations are enabled by the magneto-association of atoms at a Feshbach resonance which results in a passage through a quantum critical point. In this study, we show that the presence of generic interaction between the constituent atoms and molecules can fundamentally alter the nature of the critical point, change the yield of the reaction and the order of the consequent phase transition. We find that the correlations introduced by this interaction induce nontrivial many-body physics such as coherent oscillations between atoms and molecules, and a selective formation of squeezed molecular quantum states and quantum cat states. We provide analytical and numerical descriptions of these effects, along with scaling laws for the reaction yield in non-adiabatic regimes.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
• Grant/Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 2479487
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--23-32411; LA-UR--24-33031
• Journal Information: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 15; ISSN 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English