<p>The development of ultracold atom physics enables people to study fundamental questions in quantum mechanics within this highly-tunable platform. This dissertation focuses on several topics of the dynamical evolution of quantum systems.</p><p>Chapter 2 and 3 talk about Loschmidt echo, a simple quantity that reveals many hidden properties of a system’s time evolution. Chapter 2 looks for vanishing Loschmidt echo in the complex plane of time and the corresponding dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPT) in the thermodynamic limit. For a two-site Bose-Hubbard model consisting of weakly interacting particles, DQPTs reside at the time scale inversely proportional to the interaction, where highly entangled pair condensates also show up. Chapter 3 discusses the revival of Loschmidt echo in a discrete time crystal, a Floquet system whose discrete temporal transition symmetry is spontaneously broken. We propose a new design and demonstrate its robustness against the fluctuations in the driving field. It can also be used in precision measurement to go beyond the Heisenberg limit. Experimental schemes are presented.</p><p>Out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) is a more complicated variant of Loschmidt echo. Experimentally it requires reversing the time evolution. In Chapter 4, by exploiting the SU(1,1) symmetry of a weakly interacting BEC and connecting its quantum dynamics to a hyperbolic space, we obtain a geometric framework that enables experimentalists to manipulate the evolution with great freedom. Backward evolution is then realized effectively to measure OTOC of such SU(1,1) systems.</p><p>Chapter 5 discusses the decoherence of a spin impurity immersed in a spinor BEC. Our calculations show that by looking at the dynamics of the impurity’s reduced density matrix, the phase of the spinor BEC can be detected.</p>

<p>Ultracold atoms in an optical lattice Bloch oscillate when subject to a constant force. In the first work presented in this thesis we have theoretically studied the scenario where the optical lattice potential is provided by the electric field inside an optical cavity. The coherent atom-light interaction in a cavity gives rise to a backaction effect on the light field which can modify the intracavity field amplitude and phase. In our first treatment of this problem we model the cavity light field and atoms by classical fields and solve the coupled atom-light equations of motion. As a result, we find that the amplitude and phase of the transmitted light field is modulated at the Bloch frequency. Remarkably, the Bloch frequency itself is not modified by the backaction. Thus the transmitted light field can be used to observe the oscillations continuously, allowing high-precision measurement with small clouds of atoms.</p> <p>In the second problem presented in this thesis, we explore the band structure of the steady state solutions of the atom-cavity system. A crucial first step towards determining the band structure is the identification of an energy functional that describes the coupled atom-light system. Although, we do not include direct atom-atom interactions in our models, the coupling of the atoms to the single mode light field of the cavity introduces an effective mutual interaction which is correctly taken into account by the energy functional we introduce. Corresponding to each point in the band there exists a steady state light field associated with an average cavity photon number. The dispersive nonlinear atom-light interaction can lead to bistable solutions for this intracavity photon number. For parameters where the atom-cavity system exhibits bistability, the atomic band structure develops loop structures akin to the ones predicted for Bose-Einstein condensates in ordinary (non-cavity) optical lattices. However, in our case the nonlinearity derives from the cavity backaction rather than from direct interatomic interactions. We find both bi- and tri-stable regimes associated with the lowest band, and show that the multistability we observe can be analysed in terms of swallowtail catastrophes. Dynamic and energetic stability of the meanfield solutions is also studied, and we show that the bistable solutions have, as expected, one unstable and two stable branches. The presence of loops in the band structure can lead to a breakdown in adiabaticity during Bloch oscillations as the entire band is sampled during the dynamics. We therefore use the insight gleaned from this work in choosing parameters for the Bloch oscillation measurement proposal presented in the rest of the thesis.</p> <p>In the third work presented in the thesis, we go beyond the mean field description and consider effects of the quantised nature of the light and atomic fields. The cavity light field is always in contact with external electromagnetic fields through the partially transmissive mirrors. This coupling to the external modes enters as quantum noise in the dynamics of the intracavity field and can also be viewed as a manifestation of quantum measurement backaction corresponding to the continuous observation of the transmitted light field. We solve the Heisenberg-Langevin equations for linearized fluctuations about the atomic and optical meanfields and examine how this influences the signal-to-noise ratio of a measurement of external forces using this system. In particular, we investigate the effects of changing the number of atoms, the intracavity lattice depth, and the atom-light coupling strength, and show how resonances between the Bloch oscillation dynamics and the quasiparticle spectrum have a strong influence on the signal-to-noise ratio as well as heating effects. One of the hurdles we overcome along the way is the proper treatment of fluctuations about time-dependent meanfields in the context of cold atom cavity-QED.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The use of ultracold neutrons (UCN) to study fundamental parameters such as the neutron lifetime and decay correlations in polarized neutron beta decay are poised to make significant contributions to our understand of the Standard Model and its extensions. To this end, the UCNA experiment is pursuing a precision measurement (0.2%) of the angular correlation between the neutron spin and the direction of emission of the electron in polarized neutron decay (the ``A'' asymmetry). The UCNA experiment makes use of the spallation-driven solid deuterium (SD2) UCN source at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). The UCN leave the source and are 100% polarized by passing through a strong magnetic field before their decay is observed by a very sensitive electron spectrometer. UCN guides facilitate the transfer of UCN from the source to the spectrometer. Common guide materials include stainless steel, copper, aluminum, and quartz. Often a thin film is applied to these components to increase their ability to transport/bottle and preserve the polarization of UCN. In the region of the SD2 UCN source, nickel-58 films are applied, whereas once the UCN are polarized, diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are employed. This dissertation covers the application, process developments, and characterization of these coatings. In addition a study concerning the surface finish resulting from the mechanical polishing and electropolishing of the guides that make up the UCNA beamline is presented. / Ph. D.

This thesis contains four studies of the effects of disorder and randomness on strongly correlated quantum phases of matter. Starting with an itinerant ferromagnet, I first use an order-by-disorder approach to show that adding quenched charged disorder to the model generates new quantum fluctuations in the vicinity of the quantum critical point which lead to the formation of a novel magnetic phase known as a helical glass. Switching to bosons, I then employ a momentum-shell renormalisation group analysis of disordered lattice gases of bosons where I show that disorder breaks ergodicity in a non-trivial way, leading to unexpected glassy freezing effects. This work was carried out in the context of ultracold atomic gases, however the same physics can be realised in dimerised quantum antiferromagnets. By mapping the antiferromagnetic model onto a hard-core lattice gas of bosons, I go on to show the importance of the non-ergodic effects to the thermodynamics of the model and find evidence for an unusual glassy phase known as a Mott glass not previously thought to exist in this model. Finally, I use a mean-field numerical approach to simulate current generation quantum gas microscopes and demonstrate the feasibility of a novel measurement scheme designed to measure the Edwards-Anderson order parameter, a quantity which describes the degree of ergodicity breaking and which has never before been experimentally measured in any strongly correlated quantum system. Together, these works show that the addition of disorder into strongly interacting quantum systems can lead to qualitatively new behaviour, triggering the formation of new phases and new physics, rather than simply leading to small quantitative changes to the physics of the clean system. They provide new insights into the underlying physics of the models and make direct connection with experimental systems which can be used to test the results presented here.

Diese Dissertation widmet sich der theoretischen Beschreibung ultrakalter Atome in einem optischen Einschluss. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt hierbei auf inelastischen Resonanzen, die durch die Kopplung von Schwerpunkts- und Relativbewegung durch Anharmonizitäten im externen Potenzial Zustande kommen, der Entwicklung einer Methode zur theoretischen Beschreibung von ultrakalten Wenigteilchensystemen in einem vielseitigen Einschlusspotenzial und der Quantensimulation von Attosekundenphysik mit ultrakalten Atomen. / This thesis aims for a theoretical description of ultracold trapped atoms. The main focus are resonance phenomena due to the coupling of center-of-mass and relative motion, the development of a theoretical approach to treat ultracold few-body systems in versatile trap potentials, and the quantum simulation of attosecond physics with ultracold atoms.

Les gaz d'atomes ultrafroids offrent des possibilités sans précédent pour la réalisation et la manipulation des systèmes quantiques. Le contrôle exercé sur les interactions entre particules permet d'atteindre le régime de fortes interactions, pour des espèces d'atomes à la fois fermioniques et bosoniques. Dans la limite unitaire, où la force d'interaction est à son maximum, des propriétés universelles émergent. Pour les atomes bosoniques, celles-ci comprennent l'effet Efimov, l'existance surprenante d'une séquence infinie d'états liés à trois corps. Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudiés un système de bosons unitaires. Partant des cas à deux et à trois corps, nous avons montrés que le modèle choisi capturait correctement les caractéristiques universelles de l'effet Efimov. Pour le modèle à N-corps, nous avons développé un algorithme de Monte Carlo quantique capable de réaliser les différentes phases thermodynamiques du système : gaz normal à haute-température, condensat de Bose-Einstein, et liquide d'Efimov. Un unique composant de notre modèle resterait pertinent à la limite de température infinie, à savoir la répulsion corps dur à trois corps, qui constitue une généralisation du potentiel classique entre sphères dures. Pour ce modèle, nous avons proposé une solution au problème d'empilement compact en deux et trois dimensions, fondée sur une Ansatz analytique et sur la technique de recuit simulé. En étendant ces résultats à une situation de pression finie, nous avons montré que le système présente une transition de fusion discontinue, que nous avons identifié à travers la méthode de Monte Carlo. / Ultracold atomic gases offer unprecedented possibilities to realize and manipulate quantum systems. The control on interparticle interactions allows to reach the strongly-interacting regime, with both fermionic and bosonic atomic species. In the unitary limit, where the interaction strength is at its maximum, universal properties emerge. For bosonic atoms, these include the Efimov effect, the surprising existence of an infinite sequence of three-body bound states. In this thesis, we have studied a system of unitary bosons. Starting from the two- and three-body cases, we have shown that the chosen model correctly captures the universal features of the Efimov effect. For the corresponding many-body problem, we have developed a quantum Monte Carlo algorithm capable of realizing the different thermodynamic phases in which the system may exist: The high-temperature normal gas, Bose-Einstein condensate, and Efimov liquid. A single ingredient of our model would remain relevant in the infinite-temperature limit, namely the three-body hard-core repulsion, which constitutes a generalization of the classical hard-sphere potential. For this model, we have proposed a solution to the two- and three-dimensional packing problem, based on an analytical ansatz and on the simulated-annealing technique. Extending these results to finite pressure showed that the system has a discontinuous melting transition, which we identified through the Monte Carlo method.

Les systèmes quantiques unidimensionnels à N corps présentent des comportements particuliers et intrigants liés à leur dimensionnalité réduite, qui amplifie l’effet des fluctuations et des corrélations. Les expériences de gaz d’atomes ultra-froids permettent d’isoler et de contrôler efficacement les paramètres du système et de simuler des systèmes modèles pour lesquels il existe de nombreux outils théoriques. Je présenterai ici les résultats des études réalisées pendant ma thèse de Doctorat, visant à explorer le comportement de gaz de Bose unidimensionnels (gaz de Lieb-Liniger) à l’équilibre et hors équilibre. Je donnerai notamment un aperçu de la boite à outils aujourd’hui disponible permettant de caractériser les propriétés thermodynamiques d’un gaz de Lieb-Liniger, et présenterai une étude détaillée du mode de respiration d’un tel système. / One-dimensional quantum many-body systems exhibit peculiar and intriguing behaviors as a consequence of the reduced dimensionality, which enhances the effect of fluctuations and correlations. The high degree of isolation and controllability of experiments manipulating ultra-cold atomic gases allows for the experimental simulation of text-book models, for which many theory tools are available for quantitative comparison. I will present instances of such efforts carried out during my PhD thesis, namely, the studies performed to investigate the behavior of 1D Bose gas (Lieb-Liniger gas) at equilibrium and beyond. An overview of the toolbox available to date to characterize the equilibrium thermodynamics of a Lieb-Liniger gas will be shown, followed by a detailed study of the breathing mode of such a system.

L’exploration de systèmes quantiques à N corps fortement corrélés représente l’un des domaines de recherche les plus stimulants de la physique contemporaine. Au cours des trente dernières années, les vapeurs diluées d’atomes neutres en suspension dans le vide et contrôlées par un laser sont devenues une plate-forme polyvalente et formidable pour l’étude de tels systèmes. L’intérêt principal réside dans la capacité d’ajuster arbitrairement la force de l’interaction atomique au moyen de résonances de Feshbach induites magnétiquement, ainsi que la possibilité de créer une large gamme de potentiels via des champs optiques précisément adaptés. Cette thèse présente les résultats récents de l’expérience FerMix, consacrée à l’étude des systèmes quantiques à plusieurs corps fermioniques à des températures ultra-basses utilisant les atomes alcalins 40K et 6Li. Les principaux résultats présentés dans ce texte sont doubles. Premièrement, nous rapportons la caractérisation expérimentale d’une nouvelle résonance de Feshbach (s,d)-wave du 40K, dont les résultats sont comparés aux prédictions théoriques correspondantes. En particulier, le spectre du taux de perte inélastique est déterminé pour différentes températures et profondeurs de piège, ce qui nous permet d’identifier les pertes en tant que processus à deux corps. De plus, il est confirmé que le canal d’entrée dominant est de type s-wave. À l’aide de modèles d’équation de taux, nous analysons le réchauffement observé de l’ensemble atomique et trouvons que le comportement est cohérent avec l’état lié prévu L = 2 présent dans le canal de sortie. Enfin, nous étudions expérimentalement la dynamique des populations de spin induite par les collisions inélastiques renforcées par résonance dans l’onde d, en observant un bon accord avec nos modèles numériques. En second lieu, nous résumons nos progrès dans l’étude des croisements dimensionnels entre le liquide de Tomonaga-Luttinger en 1D et le liquide de Landau-Fermi en 3D en utilisant les gaz de Fermi de 40K confinés dans un réseau optique à grand pas. Cela inclut à la fois les considérations de conception fondamentales et l’installation du matériel expérimental requis. / The exploration of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems represents one of the most challenging fields of research of contemporary physics. Over the past thirty years, dilute vapors of neutral atoms suspended in vacuum and controlled with laser light have become a versatile and powerful platform for the study of such systems. At the very heart lies the ability to arbitrarily tune the interaction strength by means of magnetically induced Feshbach resonances as well as the possibility to create a wide range of potential landscapes via precisely tailored optical fields. This thesis reports on the recent results of the FerMix experiment, which is dedicated to the study of fermionic quantum many-body-systems at ultralow temperatures using the Alkali atoms 40K and 6Li. The main results presented in this text are twofold. First, we report on the experimental characterization of a novel (s,d)-wave Feshbach resonance in 6Li, the results of which are compared to the corresponding theoretical predictions. In particular, the spectrum of the inelastic loss rate is determined for different temperatures and trap depths, which enables us to identify the losses as two-body processes. Moreover, the dominant entrance channel is confirmed to be s-wave in nature. Using rate equation models we analyze the observed heating of the atomic ensemble and find the behavior to be consistent with the predicted L = 2 bound state present in the exit channel. Finally, we investigate experimentally the dynamics of the spin populations driven by resonantly enhanced inelastic collisions in dwave, observing good agreement with our numerical models. Second, we summarize our progress towards the study of dimensional crossovers between the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid in 1D and the Landau-Fermi liquid in 3D using Fermi gases of 40K confined in a large spacing optical lattice. This includes both the fundamental design considerations as well as the implementation of the required experimental hardware.

Ultracold atomic systems have provided an ideal platform to study the physics of strongly interacting many body systems in an unprecedentedly controlled and clean environment. And, since fermions are the building blocks of visible matter, being naturally motivated we focus on the physics of ultracold fermionic systems in this thesis. There have been many recent experimental developments in these systems such as the creation of synthetic gauge fields, realization of dimensional crossover and realization of systems with synthetic dimensions. These developments pose many open theoretical questions, some of which we address in this thesis. We start the discussion by studying the spectral function of an ideal spin-12 Fermi gas in a harmonic trap in any dimensions. We discuss the performance of the local density approximation (LDA) in calculating the spectral function of the system by comparing it to exact numerical results. We show that the LDA gives better results for larger number of particles and in higher dimensions. Fermionic systems with quasi two dimensional geometry are of great importance because of their connections to the high-Tc superconducting cuprate materials. Keeping this in mind, we consider a spin-12 fermionic system in three dimensions interacting with a contact interaction and confined by a one dimensional optical potential in one direction. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism, we show that with increasing the depth of the optical potential the three dimensional superfluid evolves into a two dimensional one by looking at the shifts in the radio-frequency spectrum of the system and the change in the binding energy of the pairs that are formed. The next topic of interest is studying the effect of synthetic gauge fields on the ultracold fermionic systems. We show that a synthetic non-Abelian Rashba type gauge field has experimentally observable signatures on the size and shape of a cloud of a system of non-interacting spin-12 Fermi system in a harmonic trap. Also, the synthetic gauge field in conjunction with the harmonic potential gives rise to ample possibilities of generating novel quantum Hamiltonians like the spherical geometry quantum Hall, magnetic monopoles etc. We then address the physics of fermions in “synthetic dimensions”. The hyperfine states of atoms loaded in a one dimensional optical lattice can be used as an extra dimension, called the synthetic dimension (SD), by using Raman coupling. This way a finite strip Hofstadter model is realized with a tunable flux per plaquette. The experimental realization of the SD system is most naturally possible in systems which also have SU(M) symmetric interactions between the fermions. The SU(M) symmetric interactions manifest as long-ranged along the synthetic dimension and is the root cause of all the novel physics in these systems. This rich physics is revealed by a mapping of the Hamiltonian of the system to a system of particles interacting via an SU(M) symmetric interaction under the influence of an SU(M) Zeeman field and a non-Abelian SU(M) gauge field. For example, this equivalence brings out the possibility of generating a non-local interaction between the particles at different sites; while the gauge filed mitigates the baryon (SU(M) singlet M-body bound states) breaking effect of the Zeeman field. As a result, the site localized SU(M) singlet baryon gets deformed and forms a “squished baryon”. Also, finite momentum dimers and resonance like states are formed in the system. Many body physics in the SD system is then studied using both analytical and numerical (Density Matrix Renormalization Group) techniques. This study reveals fascinating possibilities such as the formation of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states even without any “imbalance” and the possibility to evolve a “ferromagnet” to a “superfluid” by the application of a magnetic field. Other novel fermionic phases with quasi-condensates of squished baryons are also demonstrated. In summary, the topics addressed in this thesis demonstrate the possibilities and versatilities of the ultracold fermionic systems used in conjunction with synthetic gauge fields and dimensions

The phenomenon of pairing in atomic and nuclear many-body systems gives rise to a great number of different physical properties of matter, from areas as seemingly diverse as the shape of stable nuclei to superconductivity in metals and superfluidity in neutron stars. With the experimental realisation of the long sought BCS-BEC crossover observed in trapped atomic gases - where it is possible to fine tune the s-wave scattering length a of a many-fermion system between a dilute, correlated BCS-like superfluid of Cooper pairs and a densely packed BEC of composite bosons - pairing problems in atomic physics have found renewed interest in recent years. Given the high precision techniques involved in producing these trapped gas condensates, we would like to employ a suitably accurate many-body method to study such systems, preferably one which goes beyond the simple mean-field picture.The Coupled Cluster Method (CCM) is a widely applied and highly successful ab initio method in the realm of quantum many-body physics and quantum chemistry, known to be capable of producing extremely accurate results for a wide variety of different many-body systems. It has not found many applications in pairing problems however, at least not in a general sense. Our aim, therefore, is to study various models of pairing using a variety of CCM techniques - we are interested in studying the generic features of pairing problems and in particular, we are especially interested in probing the collective modes of a system which exhibits the BCS-BEC crossover, in either the BCS or BEC limit. The CCM seems a rather good candidate for the job, given the high precision results it can produce.