This dissertation contains a study of ultracold atoms in optical cavities. We particularly focus on two aspects of the coupled atom-cavity systems. In the first aspect, we implement the quantum nature of the light field to probe the quantum state of the atoms. This is interesting due to the nondestructive nature of the characterization of many-body atomic states. In the second aspect we study the cavity optomechanics that investigates the coupling of mechanical and optical degrees of freedom via radiation pressure. The optomechanical cavity provides an interesting nonlinear system to study the coupling between atoms and the intracavity field.In the context of cavity quantum electrodynamics we study the reflection of two counter-propagating modes of the light field in a high-Q ring cavity by ultracold atoms either in the Mott insulator state or in the superfluid state of an optical lattice. We find that the dynamics of the reflected light strongly depends on both the lattice spacing and the state of the matter-wave field. By using the Monte Carlo wave-function method to account for the cavity damping we also determine the two-time correlation function and the time-dependent physical spectrum of theretroreflected field. We find that the light field and the atoms become entangled if the latter are in a superfluid state. We also analyze quantitatively the entanglement between the atoms and the light.In cavity optomechanics the mechanical effect can either comes from a vibrating macroscopic oscillator or a collective density excitation of a Bose-Einstein condensate. First we use a Fabry-Perot-type cavity to study the opto-mechanically-induced bistable quantum phase transitions between superfluid and a Mott insulator states of an ultracold bosonic gases trapped inside the cavity. Secondly, we study the symmetricand antisymmetric collective density side modes of the BEC which results from the optomechanical effects of the light fields in a ring cavity.

Despite the great successes of the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model in explaining a wide range of observations of the global evolution and the formation of galaxies and large-scale structure in the universe, the origin and microscopic nature of this dark matter is still unknown. The most common form of CDM considered to-date is that of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), but some of the cosmological predictions for this kind of CDM are in apparent conflict with observations (e.g. cuspy-cored halos and an overabundance of satellite dwarf galaxies). For these reasons, it is important to consider the consequences of different forms of CDM. We focus here on the hypothesis that the dark matter is comprised, instead, of ultralight bosons that form a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC), described by a complex scalar field. We start from the Klein-Gordon and Einstein field equations to describe the evolution of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe in the presence of this kind of dark matter. We find that, in addition to the phases of radiation-domination (RD), matter-domination (MD) and Lambda-domination (LD) familiar from the standard CDM model, there is an earlier phase of scalar-field-domination (SFD) which is special to this model. In addition, while WIMP CDM is non-relativistic at all times after it decouples, the equation of state of BEC-SFDM is found to be relativistic at early times, evolving from incompressible ($\bar{p} = \bar{\rho}$) to radiation-like ($\bar{p} = \bar{\rho}/3$), before it becomes non-relativistic and CDM-like at late times. The timing of the transitions between these phases and regimes is shown to yield fundamental constraints on the particle mass and self-interaction coupling strength. We also discuss progress on the description of structure formation in this model, which includes additional constraints on these parameters. / text

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We numerically solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and the Bogoliubov de Gennes equations for a double well potential in order to model the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a Josephson junction. First, the two dynamical regimes of the Josephson junction, that is, Josephson oscillations and self-trapping, are investigated under the application of a large sudden perturbation. It is found that the Josephson dynamics have a strong dependence on the strength of the interatomic interaction, and we observe the breakdown of the two-mode approximation. Second, we study the control of the dynamics through the use of a time-dependent, tilted double well potential. In the context of complete population transfer, the effect of the interactions on the adiabaticity and self-trapping is discussed in terms of a Landau-Zener-like model. We then explore the splitting of the condensate and the resulting dynamical behaviour by keeping the interaction strength constant, but changing the rate of the tilt sweep. Lastly, we examine the effect of the tilt sweep rate on the dynamics of population transfer. We observe a dependence of the self-trapping on the adiabaticity. / Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2011-01-10 16:31:43.127

The work of this thesis is guided by the Analogue Gravity research programme, in which condensed matter systems are used as analogues of the physics of curved spacetimes to obtain new perspectives on open problems of gravitational physics. Here we use this idea to investigate the phenomenon of superradiance, most famously occurring in rotating black hole spacetimes, using as an analogue system atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Superradiance is a radiation enhancement phenomenon in which waves of different kind are scattered with an increased amplitude by extracting energy from the object they are scattering on. In this thesis on the one hand we use the gravitational analogy to understand better superradiance starting from easier analogue setups, and on the other hand we use concepts coming from superradiance to learn something about the physics of BECs. We first present a (possibly realizable) toy model, built using the tools of synthetic gauge fields for neutral atoms, to provide a new and conceptually simple illustration of superradiant scattering. This toy model allows to disentangle the different elements at play and highlight the basic mechanisms of superradiance and has also the interesting feature of being exactly mappable to a scattering problem of a charged scalar field on an electrostatic potential. We also show how at the quantum level, superradiance implies the spontaneous emission of pairs of excitations. The low temperatures of atomic condensates can make these quantum features visible and we propose a way of detecting them via correlation measurements. Another realization of this toy model can also be built using periodic trapping potentials for the atoms. By changing the boundary conditions of the acoustic excitations of the condensate we show how superradiance can give rise to dynamical instabilities. Our toy model gives a simple illustration of superradiant instabilities occurring in rotating gravitational spacetimes, in particular ergoregion instabilities and black hole bombs. It also provides a realization of the analogous instabilities involving a charged scalar field, called the Schiff-Snyder-Weinberg effect. Our approach naturally shows how amplified scattering can also occur in the presence of dynamical instabilities, a point often object of confusion in the literature. Moreover, we add an acoustic horizon to our toy model and show that, differently from what happens in general relativity, horizons do not always prevent the presence of ergoregion instabilities. We then apply these concepts to the study of the stability of quantized vortices in two-dimensional BECs. With a careful account of boundary conditions, we show that the dynamical instability of multiply quantized vortices in trapped condensates persists in untrapped, spatially homogeneous geometries and has an ergoregion nature with some modification due to the peculiar dispersion of Bogoliubov sound. Our results open new perspectives to the physics of vortices in trapped condensates, where multiply quantized vortices can be stabilized by interference effects and singly charged vortices can become unstable in suitably designed trap potentials. We show how superradiant scattering can be observed also in the short-time dynamics of dynamically unstable systems, providing an alternative point of view on dynamical (in)stability phenomena in spatially finite systems. Finally we consider the equivalent of a shear layer between parallel flows in hydrodynamics, but in a BEC. In the present case the shear layer is constituted by and array of quantized vortices that are shown to develop an instability analogous to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. When the relative velocity between the two parallel flow is sufficiently large however, this instability is quenched and substituted by a slower instability that has the features of the superradiant instabilities we studied. Differently from superradiant instabilities, this one also remains with open boundary conditions on the two sides of the shear layer, and manifests itself as a continuous emission of phonons in both directions; we call this new regime radiative instability.

This thesis focuses on the analysis of Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) evolution in ultracold superfluid Fermi gases when the interaction between atoms is varied. The tuning of attractive interactions permits the ground state of the system to evolve from a weak fermion attraction BCS limit of loosely bound and largely overlapping Cooper pairs to a strong fermion attraction limit of tightly bound small bosonic molecules which undergo BEC. This evolution is accompanied by anomalous behavior of many superfluid properties, and reveals several quantum phase transitions. This thesis has two parts: In the first part, I analyze zero and nonzero orbital angular momentum pairing effects, and show that a quantum phase transition occurs for nonzero angular momentum pairing, unlike the $s$-wave case where the BCS to BEC evolution is just a crossover. In the second part, I analyze two-species fermion mixtures with mass and population imbalance in continuum, trap and lattice models. In contrast with the crossover physics found in the mass and population balanced mixtures, I demonstrate the existence of phase transitions between normal and superfluid phases, as well as phase separation between superfluid (paired) and normal (excess) fermions in imbalanced mixtures as a function of scattering parameter and mass and population imbalance.

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Dans cette exposé, je présenterai quelques résultats théoriques et expérimentaux sur la dynamique des fluides classiques et quantiques. Dans une première partie, je présenterai un bref exposé sur la nucléation de gouttes de pluie en montrant le rôle de l'instabilité classique de Rayleigh Taylor dans la limitation de leur taille, et j'étudierai ensuite leur impact sur des surfaces non mouillantes. Je passerai ensuite aux gaz de fermions ultra-froids et nous verrons comment des expériences récentes ont permis de préciser le lien existant entre supraconductivité et condensation de Bose-Einstein.