Observation of nonlinear spin dynamics in dual-cell atomic gases
Phys. Rev. A 114, 013117 – Published 15 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k1hd-p6np
Abstract
Nonlinear spin systems exhibit rich and exotic dynamical phenomena, offering promising applications ranging from spin masers and time crystals to precision measurement. Recent theoretical work [T. Wang et al., Commun. Phys. 8, 41 (2025)] has predicted intriguing nonlinear dynamical phases arising from inhomogeneous magnetic fields and feedback interactions. However, experimental exploration of these predictions remains lacking. Here, we report the observation of nonlinear spin dynamics in dual-bias magnetic fields with dual-cell alkali-metal atomic gases and present three representative stable dynamical behaviors of limit cycles, quasiperiodic orbits, and chaos. Additionally, we probe the nonlinear phase transitions between these phases by varying the feedback gain and the difference of dual-bias magnetic fields. Furthermore, we demonstrate the robustness of the limit cycle and quasiperiodic orbit against the noise of magnetic fields. Our findings establish a versatile platform for exploring complex spin dynamics and open avenues for the realization of multimode spin masers, time crystals and quasicrystals, and high-precision magnetometers.
