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Quantum flutter of supersonic particles in one-dimensional quantum liquids

Nature Physics volume 8, pages 881–886 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Fast obstacles in a medium are responsible for striking physical phenomena, such as aerodynamic flutter, Čerenkov radiation and acoustic shock waves. In a hydrodynamic picture, quantum systems exhibit analogues of these dynamical features. Here we uncover novel quantum dynamics induced by fast particles by considering impurities injected supersonically into a one-dimensional quantum liquid. We find that the injected particle never comes to a full stop, at odds with conventional expectations of relaxation. Furthermore the system excites a new type of collective mode, manifesting itself in several observable quantities, such as long-lived oscillations in the velocity of the injected particle and simultaneous oscillations of the correlation hole formed around the impurity. These features are inherently quantum-mechanical and provide an example of a dynamically formed quantum coherent state propagating through a many-body environment while maintaining its coherence. The signatures of these effects can be probed directly with existing experimental tools.

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Figure 1: Correlation hole formation and wave packet emission for γ = 5 and Q = 1.35kF.
Figure 2: Properties of quantum flutter for γ = 5 and Q = 1.35kF.
Figure 3: Physical mechanism behind quantum flutter.
Figure 4: Experimental setup to realize and probe quantum flutter in cold atoms.
Figure 5: Time evolution of for γ = 5 and several values of Q.
Figure 6: Time evolution of for several values of mass ratio r = m↓/m↑.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank V. Cheianov, J. Feist, E. Haller, D. Huse, W. Ketterle, H. Kim, H-C. Nägerl, M. Parish, D. Petrov and M. Zwierlein for useful discussions. C.J.M.M. acknowledges support from the NSF through ITAMP at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. M.B.Z. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation through the grant PA00P2_126228 ‘Unconventional Regimes in One Dimensional Quantum Liquids’. This work used the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by National Science Foundation grant number OCI-1053575. The computational results presented were achieved using XSEDE resources provided by TACC under grant TG-PHY100035, and using the Smithsonian High Performance Cluster.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Charles J. M. Mathy

  2. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Charles J. M. Mathy, Mikhail B. Zvonarev & Eugene Demler

  3. Univ. Paris Sud, Laboratoire LPTMS, UMR8626, Orsay, F-91405, France

    Mikhail B. Zvonarev

  4. CNRS, Orsay, F-91405, France

    Mikhail B. Zvonarev

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  1. Charles J. M. Mathy
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Contributions

M.B.Z. and C.J.M.M. devised the project and discovered the saturation and oscillations of momentum loss. E.D. proposed and oversaw further calculations which led to a complete physical picture. M.B.Z. and C.J.M.M. carried out the analytical derivations. C.J.M.M. performed the numerical calculations, and prepared the manuscript with substantial input from E.D. and M.B.Z.

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Correspondence to Charles J. M. Mathy.

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Mathy, C., Zvonarev, M. & Demler, E. Quantum flutter of supersonic particles in one-dimensional quantum liquids. Nature Phys 8, 881–886 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2455

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