Fractional-period excitations in continuum periodic systems

Journal Article · Fri Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.74.063617· OSTI ID:20976531

Nistazakis, H E; Frantzeskakis, D J ^[1]; Porter, Mason A ^[2]; Kevrekidis, P G ^[3]; Nicolin, A ^[4]; Chin, J K ^[5]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, Athens 15784 (Greece)
2. Department of Physics and Center for the Physics of Information, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125 (United States)
3. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4515 (United States)
4. Niels Bohr Institute, DK-2100, Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen (Denmark)
5. Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

We investigate the generation of fractional-period states in continuum periodic systems. As an example, we consider a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in an optical-lattice potential. We show that when the potential is turned on nonadiabatically, the system explores a number of transient states whose periodicity is a fraction of that of the lattice. We illustrate the origin of fractional-period states analytically by treating them as resonant states of a parametrically forced Duffing oscillator and discuss their transient nature and potential observability.

• OSTI ID: 20976531
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 74, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.063617; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
EXCITATION
OSCILLATORS
PERIODIC SYSTEM
PERIODICITY
POTENTIALS
TRANSIENTS