Thursday, May 17, 2012

1205.3511 (M. P. Strzys et al.)

Second Josephson excitations beyond mean field as a toy model for
thermal pressure: exact quantum dynamics and the quantum phase model
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M. P. Strzys, J. R. Anglin
A simple four-mode Bose-Hubbard model with intrinsic time scale separation can be considered as a paradigm for mesoscopic quantum systems in thermal contact. In our previous work we showed that in addition to coherent particle exchange, a novel slow collective excitation can be identified by a series of Holstein-Primakoff transformations. This resonant energy exchange mode is not predicted by linear Bogoliubov theory, and its frequency is sensitive to interactions among Bogoliubov quasi-particles; it may be referred to as a second Josephson oscillation, in analogy to the second sound mode of liquid Helium II. In this paper we will explore this system beyond the Gross-Pitaevskii mean field regime. We directly compare the classical mean field dynamics to the exact full quantum many-particle dynamics and show good agreement over a large range of the system parameters. The second Josephson frequency becomes imaginary for stronger interactions, however, indicating dynamical instability of the symmetric state. By means of a generalized quantum phase model for the full four-mode system, we then show that, in this regime, high-energy Bogoliubov quasiparticles tend to accumulate in one pair of sites, while the actual particles preferentially occupy the opposite pair. We interpret this as a simple model for thermal pressure.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.3511

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