Topology, Singularities and Emulation in a Spinor BEC

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A frontier of modern physics involves the manipulation and study of atoms cooled and trapped with temperatures near zero degrees Kelvin. Dilute samples of cold atoms have been used to realize high-performance atomic clocks and deBroglie wave gyroscopes as well as to model novel quantum materials. This project is based on the use of such ultracold quantum-atomic vapors to simulate and emulate problems from a range of subfields of physics. The importance of this work includes contributions to the general progress of science and specifically to our understanding of the quantum world. A key impact is expected to be the creation of knowledge useful for the development of quantum technologies and understanding of novel materials. Of equal importance is that the research will be central to the training of the next generation of scientists, many of whom will form the taskforce that is necessary to develop these new technologies.The project team uses carefully prepared laser pulses to manipulate a quantum degenerate gas of rubidium in such a way that its subsequent behavior models physical phenomena important to problems in other areas such as materials science and nuclear spin resonance (the phenomena at the heart of technologies such as MRI). The project rests on a series of studies related to this goal that build on the group's experience with imprinting spin and orbital angular momentum structures on a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Specifically the group will investigate the creation, stability and excitations of an array of non-trivial topological excitations (coreless vortices such as Skyrmions, Alice strings, phase states, etc.); to use a recently realized full Bloch BEC to gain access to a topological phase, the Gouy phase; to realize and investigate point-like defects in a spinor BEC such as the cross dis-gyration texture. The proposed work shares a common platform of experimental techniques, many of which are well developed by the group, and a common theoretical framework.