Quantum Phases of Bose-Einstein Condensates with Synthetic Spin-Orbital-Angular-Momentum Coupling

Date

2015-05

ORCID

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

item.page.doi

Abstract

The experimental realization of emergent spin-orbit coupling through laser-induced Raman transitions in ultracold atoms paves the way for exploring novel superfluid physics and simulating exotic many-body phenomena. A recent proposal with the use of Laguerre-Gaussian lasers enables another fundamental type of coupling between spin and orbital angular momentum (SOAM) in ultracold atoms. We hereby study quantum phases of a realistic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with this synthetic SOAM coupling in a disk-shaped geometry, respecting radial inhomogeneity of the Raman coupling. We find that the experimental system naturally resides in a strongly interacting regime in which the phase diagram significantly deviates from the single-particle picture. The interplay between SOAM coupling and interaction leads to rich structures in spin-resolved position and momentum distributions, including a stripe phase and various types of immiscible states. Our results would provide a guide for an experimental investigation of SOAM-coupled BECs.

Description

Keywords

Orbital angular momentum, Bose-Einstein condensation, Spin angular momentum, Spin-Orbit coupling, Raman coupling

item.page.sponsorship

"This work is supported by ARO (W911NF-12-1-0334) and AFOSR (FA9550-13-1-0045)."

Rights

©2015 American Physical Society

Citation