Momentum Space Aharonov-Bohm Interferometry in Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates

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Institute of Physics Publishing

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Abstract

The recent experimental realization of synthetic Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) paves a new avenue for exploring topological phases in ultracold atoms. The unequivocal characterization of such topological physics requires a simple scheme for measuring the Berry phase originating from the SOC. Here we propose a scheme to realize momentum space Aharonov-Bohm interferometry in a Rashba spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate through a sudden change of the in-plane Zeeman field. We find that the π Berry phase for the Dirac point of the Rashba SOC is directly revealed by a robust dark interference fringe in the momentum space. An external perpendicular Zeeman field opens a band gap at the Dirac point, which reduces the Berry phase along the Rashba ring, leading to lower brightness of the interference fringe. We develop a variational model with semiclassical equations of motion of essential dynamical quantities for describing the interference process, yielding real and momentum space trajectories and geometric phases agreeing with the real-time simulation of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Our study may pave the way for the experimental detection of Berry phases in ultracold atomic systems and further exploration of momentum space interference dynamics.

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Keywords

Collective excitations, Superfluidity, Atoms--Ultracold, Interferometry, Bose-Einstein condensation

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This work is supported by AFOSR (FA9550-16-1-0387), NSF (PHY-1505496), and ARO (W911NF-17-1-0128).

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©2018 EPLA

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