We present a general method for obtaining the exact static solutions and collective excitation frequencies of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with dipolar atomic interactions in the Thomas-Fermi regime. The method incorporates analytic expressions for the dipolar potential of an arbitrary polynomial density profile, thereby reducing the problem of handling nonlocal dipolar interactions to the solution of algebraic equations. We comprehensively map out the static solutions and excitation modes, including non-cylindrically-symmetric traps, and also the case of negative scattering length where dipolar interactions stabilize an otherwise unstable condensate. The dynamical stability of the excitation modes gives insight into the onset of collapse of a dipolar BEC. We find that global collapse is consistently mediated by an anisotropic quadrupolar collective mode, although there are two trapping regimes in which the BEC is stable against quadrupole fluctuations even as the ratio of the dipolar to $s$-wave interactions becomes infinite. Motivated by the possibility of a fragmented condensate in a dipolar Bose gas due to the partially attractive interactions, we pay special attention to the scissors modes, which can provide a signature of superfluidity, and identify a long-range restoring force which is peculiar to dipolar systems. As part of the supporting material for this paper we provide the computer program used to make the calculations, including a graphical user interface.

We extend the study of Kapitza-Dirac diffraction to the case of two-particle systems. Due to the exchange effects the shape and visibility of the two-particle detection patterns show important differences for identical and distinguishable particles. We also identify a quantum statistics effect present in momentum space for some values of the initial particle momenta, which is associated with different numbers of photon absorptions compatible with the final momenta.

We report on a promising approach to high-sensitivity anisotropy measurements using a high-finesse cavity locked by optical feedback to a diode laser. We provide a simple and effective way to decouple the weak anisotropy of interest from the inherent mirror’s birefringence whose drift may be identified as the key limiting parameter in cavity-based techniques. We demonstrate a shot-noise-limited phase shift resolution previously inaccessible in an optical cavity, readily achieving the state-of-the-art level of $3\times {10}^{-13}$ rad.

Reflectionless defects in Hermitian tight-binding lattices, synthesized by the intertwining operator technique of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, are generally not invisible and time-of-flight measurements could reveal the existence of the defects. Here it is shown that, in a certain class of non-Hermitian tight-binding lattices with complex hopping amplitudes, defects in the lattice can appear fully invisible to an outside observer. The synthesized non-Hermitian lattices with invisible defects possess a real-valued energy spectrum; however, they lack parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry, which does not play any role in the present work.

We show that for two initially excited qubits, interacting via dipole forces and with a common reservoir, entanglement is preceded by the emergence of quantum and classical correlations. After a time lag, entanglement finally starts building up, giving rise to a peculiar entangled state, with very small classical correlations. Different measures of quantum correlations are discussed, and their dynamics are compared and shown to lead to coincident values of these quantifiers for several ranges of time.

With increasing communication rates via quantum channels, memory effects become unavoidable whenever the use rate of the channel is comparable to the typical relaxation time of the channel environment. We introduce a model of a bosonic memory channel, describing correlated noise effects in quantum-optical processes via attenuating or amplifying media. To study such a channel model, we make use of a proper set of collective field variables, which allows us to unravel the memory effects, mapping the $n$-fold concatenation of the memory channel to a unitarily equivalent, direct product of $n$ single-mode bosonic channels. We hence estimate the channel capacities by relying on known results for the memoryless setting. Our findings show that the model is characterized by two different regimes, in which the cross correlations induced by the noise among different channel uses are either exponentially enhanced or exponentially reduced.

We show that monogamy of Bell’s inequality violations, which is strictly weaker condition than the no-signaling principle is enough to prove security of quantum key distribution. We derive our results for a whole class of monogamy constraints and generalize our results to any theory that communicating parties may have access to. Some of these theories do not respect the no-signaling principle yet still allow for secure communication. This proves that no signaling is only a sufficient condition for the possibility of secure communication, but not the necessary one. We also present some new qualitative results concerning the security of existing quantum key distribution protocols.

We investigate the ratio of double to single ionization of He in an intense laser field based on the rescattering model. Folding the rescattering energy spectra with the electron impact inelastic cross sections, we obtain the probability of double ionization due to the nonsequential ionization process. Our results are in reasonable agreement with the experiment [Walker et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1227 (1994)]. Furthermore, we investigate the physical insights of the nonsequential double ionization by analyzing the rescattering energy spectra at different intensities and the contributions from individual returns. This study confirms the reliability of the rescattering energy spectra obtained from ab initio calculations. The rescattering information can be used to analyze many other dynamical processes in intense laser-matter interactions, such as molecular imaging.

We examine interactions between atoms continuously and coherently driven between the ground state and a Rydberg state, producing “Rydberg-dressed atoms.” Because of the large dipolar coupling between two Rydberg atoms, a small admixture of Rydberg character into a ground state can produce an atom with a dipole moment of a few debye, the appropriate size to observe interesting dipolar physics effects in cold atom systems. We have calculated the interaction energies for atoms that interact via the dipole-dipole interaction and find that because of blockade effects, the $R$ dependent two-atom interaction terms are limited in size and can be $R$ independent up until the dipolar energy is equal to the detuning. This produces $R$ dependent interactions different from the expected $1/R^3$ dipolar form that have no direct analogy in condensed-matter physics and could lead to interesting quantum phases in trapped Rydberg systems.

We study the phase-fluctuating condensate regime of ultracold atoms trapped in a ring-shaped trap geometry, which has been realized in recent experiments. We first consider a simplified box geometry, in which we identify the conditions to create a state that is dominated by thermal phase fluctuations, and then explore the experimental ring geometry. In both cases we demonstrate that the requirement for strong phase fluctuations can be expressed in terms of the total number of atoms and the geometric length scales of the trap only. For the ring-shaped trap we discuss the zero temperature limit in which a condensate is realized where the phase is fluctuating due to interactions and quantum fluctuations. We also address possible ways of detecting the phase-fluctuating regime in ring condensates.

The compressibility, zero-sound dispersion, and effective mass of a gas of fermionic dipolar molecules is calculated at finite temperature for one-, two-, and three-dimensional uniform systems, and in a multilayer quasi-two-dimensional system. The compressibility is nonmonotonic in the reduced temperature, $T/T_F$, exhibiting a maximum at finite temperature. This effect might be visible in a quasi-low-dimensional experiment, providing a clear signature of the onset of many-body quantum degeneracy effects. The collective mode dispersion and effective mass show similar nontrivial temperature and density dependence. In a quasi-low-dimensional system, the zero-sound mode may propagate at experimentally attainable temperatures.

We investigate controlled phase separation of a binary Bose-Einstein condensate in the proximity of a mixed-spin-channel Feshbach resonance in the $|F=1,m_F=+1\rangle$ and $|F=2,m_F=-1\rangle$ states of  ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ at a magnetic field of 9.10 G. Phase separation occurs on the lower-magnetic-field side of the Feshbach resonance while the two components overlap on the higher-magnetic-field side. The Feshbach resonance curve of the scattering length is obtained from the shape of the atomic cloud by comparison with the numerical analysis of coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations.

We show that an interesting kind of pairing occurs for spin-imbalanced Fermi gases under a specific experimental condition—the spin up and spin down Fermi levels lying within the $p_x$ and $s$ orbital bands of an optical lattice, respectively. The pairs condense at a finite momentum equal to the sum of the two Fermi momenta of spin up and spin down fermions and form a $p$-orbital pair condensate. This $2k_F$ momentum dependence has been seen before in spin- and charge-density waves, but it differs from the usual $p$-wave superfluids such as ${}^3\mathrm{He}$, where the orbital symmetry refers to the relative motion within each pair. Our conclusion is based on the density matrix renormalization group analysis for the one-dimensional (1D) system and mean-field theory for the quasi-1D system. The phase diagram of the quasi-1D system is calculated, showing that the $p$-orbital pair condensate occurs in a wide range of fillings. In the strongly attractive limit, the system realizes an unconventional BEC beyond Feynman’s no-node theorem. The possible experimental signatures of this phase in molecule projection experiment are discussed.

We investigate an attractive atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped by a double-well potential in the axial direction and by a harmonic potential in the transverse directions. We obtain numerically a quantum phase diagram which includes all the three relevant phases of the system: Josephson, spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB), and collapse. We consider also the coherent dynamics of the BEC and calculate the frequency of population-imbalance mode in the Josephson phase and in the SSB phase up to the collapse. We show that these phases can be observed by using ultracold vapors of ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ atoms in a magneto-optical trap.

A master equation approach for the description of dark-state polaritons in coherently driven atomic media is presented. This technique provides a description of light-matter interactions under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) that is well suited for the treatment of polariton losses. The master equation approach allows us to describe general polariton-polariton interactions that may be conservative, dissipative, or a mixture of both. In particular, it enables us to study dissipation-induced correlations as a means for the creation of strongly correlated polariton systems. Our technique reveals a loss mechanism for stationary-light polaritons that has not been discussed so far. We find that polariton losses in level configurations with nondegenerate ground states can be a multiple of those in level schemes with degenerate ground states.

Stable vortices with topological charges of 3 and 4 are examined numerically and analytically in photonic quasicrystals created by interference of five as well as eight beams, for cubic as well as saturable nonlinearities. Direct numerical simulations corroborate the analytical and numerical linear stability analysis predictions for such experimentally realizable structures.

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the nonclassicality of bosonic quantum states are formulated by introducing nonclassicality filters and nonclassicality quasiprobability distributions. Regular quasiprobabilities are constructed from characteristic functions which can be directly sampled by balanced homodyne detection. Their negativities uncover the nonclassical effects of general quantum states. The method is illustrated by visualizing the nonclassical nature of a squeezed state.

We analyze the interaction of fermions and bosons through a one-dimensional Yukawa model. We numerically compute the energy eigenstates that represent a physical fermion, which is a superposition of bare fermionic and bosonic eigenstates of the uncoupled Hamiltonian. It turns out that even fast bare fermions require only low-momentum dressing bosons, which attach themselves to the fast fermion through quantum correlations. We compare the space-time evolution of a physical fermion with that of its bare counterpart and show the importance of using dressed observables. The time evolution of the center of mass as well as the wave packet’s spatial width suggests that the physical particle has a lower mass than the sum of the masses of its bare constituents. The numerically predicted dressed mass agrees with that from lowest-order perturbation theory as well as with the renormalized mass obtained from the corresponding Feynman graphs. For a given momentum, this lower mass leads to a faster physical particle and a different relativistic spreading behavior of the wave packet.

We present a relativistic generalization of the Wigner inequality for the scalar and pseudoscalar particles decaying to two particles with spin (fermions and photons.) We consider Wigner’s inequality with the full spin anticorrelation (with the nonrelativistic analog), as well as the case with the full spin correlation. The latter case may be obtained by a special choice of the plane of measurement of the spin projections on the direction of propagation of fermions. The possibility for relativistic testing of Bohr’s complementarity principle is shown.