Distinguishing mesoscopic quantum superpositions from statistical mixtures in periodically shaken double wells

Weiss, Christoph

doi:10.1088/0953-4075/45/2/021002

Distinguishing mesoscopic quantum superpositions from statistical mixtures in periodically shaken double wells

Weiss, Christoph

Authors

Christoph Weiss

Abstract

For Bose–Einstein condensates in double wells, N-particle Rabi-like oscillations often seem to be damped. Far from being a decoherence effect, the apparent damping can indicate the emergence of quantum superpositions in the many-particle quantum dynamics. However, in an experiment it would be difficult to distinguish the apparent damping from decoherence effects. This paper suggests using controlled periodic shaking to quasi-instantaneously switch the sign of an effective Hamiltonian, thus implementing an 'echo' technique which distinguishes quantum superpositions from statistical mixtures. The scheme for the effective time reversal is tested by numerically solving the time-dependent N-particle Schrödinger equation.

Citation

Weiss, C. (2012). Distinguishing mesoscopic quantum superpositions from statistical mixtures in periodically shaken double wells. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 45(2), https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/45/2/021002

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jan 28, 2012
Deposit Date	Jul 29, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Sep 2, 2014
Journal	Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Print ISSN	0953-4075
Electronic ISSN	1361-6455
Publisher	IOP Publishing
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	45
Issue	2
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/45/2/021002

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Copyright Statement
© 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/45/2/021002.