Dipolar Bose Supersolid Stripes

Nucleation of Helium in Liquid Lithium at 843 K and High Pressures

Fusion energy stands out as a promising alternative for a future decarbonised energy system. In order to be sustainable, future fusion nuclear reactors will have to produce their own tritium. In the so-called breeding blanket of a reactor, the neutron bombardment of lithium will produce the desired tritium, but also helium, which can trigger nucleation mechanisms owing to the very low solubility of helium in liquid metals. An understanding of the underlying microscopic processes is important for improving the efficiency, sustainability and reliability of the fusion energy conversion process. The spontaneous creation of helium droplets or bubbles in the liquid metal used as breeding material in some designs may be a serious issue for the performance of the breeding blankets. This phenomenon has yet to be fully studied and understood. This work aims to provide some insight on the behaviour of lithium and helium mixtures at experimentally corresponding operating conditions (843 K and pressures between 108 and 1010 Pa). We report a microscopic study of the thermodynamic, structural and dynamical properties of lithium–helium mixtures, as a first step to the simulation of the environment in a nuclear fusion power plant. We introduce a new microscopic model devised to describe the formation of helium droplets in the thermodynamic range considered. Our model predicts the formation of helium droplets at pressures around 109 Pa, with radii between 1 and 2 Å. The diffusion coefficient of lithium (2 Å2/ps) is in excellent agreement with reference experimental data, whereas the diffusion coefficient of helium is in the range of 1 Å2/ps and tends to decrease as pressure increases.

Mixtures of Dipolar Gases in Two Dimensions: A Quantum Monte Carlo Study

We studied the miscibility of two dipolar quantum gases in the limit of zero temperature. The system under study is composed of a mixture of two Bose gases with dominant dipolar interaction in a two-dimensional harmonic confinement. The dipolar moments are all considered to be perpendicular to the plane, turning the dipolar potential in a purely repulsive and isotropic model. Our analysis is carried out by using the diffusion Monte Carlo method, which allows for an exact solution to the many-body problem within some statistical noise. Our results show that the miscibility between the two species is rather constrained as a function of the relative dipolar moments and masses of the two components. A narrow regime is predicted where both species mix and we introduce an adimensional parameter whose value quite accurately predicts the miscibility of the two dipolar gases.

Nanoscale Phase Separation of Incommensurate and Quasi-Commensurate Spin Stripes in Low Temperature Spin Glass of La2−xSrxNiO4

While spin striped phases in La2−xSrxNiO4+y for 0.25 < x < 0.33 are the archetypal case of a 1D spin density wave (SDW) phase in doped antiferromagnetic strongly correlated perovskites, few information is available on the SDW spatial organization. In this context, we have measured the spatial variation of the wave vector of the SDW reflection profile by scanning micro X-ray diffractions with a coherent beam. We obtained evidence of a SDW order–disorder transition by lowering a high temperature phase (T > 50 K) to a low temperature phase (T < 50 K). We have identified quasi-commensurate spin stripe puddles in the ordered phase at 50 < T < 70 K, while the low temperature spin glassy phase presents a nanoscale phase separation of T = 30 K, with the coexistence of quasi-commensurate and incommensurate spin stripe puddles assigned to the interplay of quantum frustration and strong electronic correlations.

Spatial order in a two-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled spin-1/2 condensate: superlattice, multi-ring and stripe formation

We demonstrate the formation of stable spatially-ordered states in auniformand alsotrappedquasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) Rashba or Dresselhaus spin-orbit (SO) coupled pseudo spin-1/2 Bose-Einstein condensate using the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation. For weak SO coupling, one can have a circularly-symmetric (0, +1)- or (0, -1)-type multi-ring state with intrinsic vorticity, for Rashba or Dresselhaus SO coupling, respectively, where the numbers in the parentheses denote the net angular momentum projection in the two components, in addition to a circularly-asymmetric degenerate state with zero net angular momentum projection. For intermediate SO couplings, in addition to the above two types, one can also have states with stripe pattern in component densities with no periodic modulation in total density. The stripe state continues to exist for large SO coupling. In addition, a new spatially-periodic state appears in the uniform system: asuperlatticestate, possessing some properties of asupersolid, with a square-lattice pattern in component densities and also in total density. In a trapped system the superlattice state is slightly different with multi-ring pattern in component density and a square-lattice pattern in total density. For an equal mixture of Rashba and Dresselhaus SO couplings, in both uniform and trapped systems, only stripe states are found for all strengths of SO couplings. In a uniform system all these states are quasi-2D solitonic states.

Supersolid-like states in a two-dimensional trapped spin-orbit-coupled spin-1 condensate

We study supersolid-like states in a quasi-two-dimensional trapped Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit (SO) coupled spin-1 condensate. For small strengths of SO couplingγ(γ⪅ 0.75), in the ferromagnetic phase, circularly-symmetric (0, ±1, ±2)- and (∓1, 0, ±1)-type states are formed where the numbers in the parentheses denote the angular momentum of the vortex at the center of the components and where the upper (lower) sign correspond to Rashba (Dresselhaus) coupling; in the antiferromagnetic phase, only (∓1, 0, ±1)-type states are formed. For large strengths of SO coupling, supersolid-like superlattice and superstripe states are formed in the ferromagnetic phase. In the antiferromagnetic phase, for large strengths of SO coupling, supersolid-like superstripe and multi-ring states are formed. For an equal mixture of Rashba and Dresselhaus SO couplings, only a superstripe state is found. All these states are found to be dynamically stable and hence accessible in an experiment and will enhance the fundamental understanding of crystallization onto radially periodic states in solids.

Exotic Vortex States with Discrete Rotational Symmetry in Atomic Fermi Gases with Spin-Orbital-Angular-Momentum Coupling

We investigate the superfluidity of a two-component Fermi gas with spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupling (SOAMC). Because of the intricate interplay of SOAMC, two-photon detuning and atom-atom interaction, a family of vortex ground states emerges in a broad parameter regime of the phase diagram, in contrast to the usual case where an external rotation or magnetic field is generally required. More strikingly, an unprecedented vortex state, which breaks the continuous rotational symmetry to a discrete one spontaneously, is predicted to occur. The underlying physics are elucidated and verified by numerical simulations. The unique density distributions of the predicted vortex states enable a direct observation in experiment.

New states of matter with fine-tuned interactions: quantum droplets and dipolar supersolids

Quantum fluctuations can stabilize Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) against the mean-field collapse. Stabilization of the condensate has been observed in quantum degenerate Bose-Bose mixtures and dipolar BECs. The fine-tuning of the interatomic interactions can lead to the emergence of two new states of matter: liquid-like self-bound quantum droplets and supersolid crystals formed from these droplets. We review the properties of these exotic states of matter and summarize the experimental progress made using dipolar quantum gases and Bose-Bose mixtures. We conclude with an outline of important open questions that could be addressed in the future.

Excitation Spectrum of a Trapped Dipolar Supersolid and Its Experimental Evidence

We study the spectrum of elementary excitations of a dipolar Bose gas in a three-dimensional anisotropic trap across the superfluid-supersolid phase transition. Theoretically, we show that, when entering the supersolid phase, two distinct excitation branches appear, respectively associated with dominantly crystal and superfluid excitations. These results confirm infinite-system predictions, showing that finite-size effects play only a small qualitative role, and connect the two branches to the simultaneous occurrence of crystal and superfluid orders. Experimentally, we probe compressional excitations in an Er quantum gas across the phase diagram. While in the Bose-Einstein condensate regime the system exhibits an ordinary quadrupole oscillation, in the supersolid regime we observe a striking two-frequency response of the system, related to the two spontaneously broken symmetries.

Supersolid Stripe Crystal from Finite-Range Interactions on a Lattice

Strong, long-range interactions present a unique challenge for the theoretical investigation of quantum many-body lattice models, due to the generation of large numbers of competing states at low energy. Here, we investigate a class of extended bosonic Hubbard models with off-site terms interpolating between short and infinite range, thus allowing for an exact numerical solution for all interaction strengths. We predict a novel type of stripe crystal at strong coupling. Most interestingly, for intermediate interaction strengths we demonstrate that the stripes can turn superfluid, thus leading to a self-assembled array of quasi-one-dimensional superfluids. These bosonic superstripes turn into an isotropic supersolid with decreasing the interaction strength. The mechanism for stripe formation is based on cluster self-assembling in the corresponding classical ground state, reminiscent of classical soft-matter models of polymers, different from recently proposed mechanisms for cold gases of alkali or dipolar magnetic atoms.