Many-body physics and non-equilibrium dynamics in ultracold atomic systems

Reichl, Matthew Douglas

Many-body physics and non-equilibrium dynamics in ultracold atomic systems

Abstract

This thesis presents a series of theoretical studies of ultra cold atomic systems which model and propose experiments, and develop new computational techniques in order to elucidate aspects of many-body physics and non-equilibrium dynamics. In the first two studies I model the dynamics of nonlinear solitonic excitations in ultracold fermionic superfluids: the first simulates recent experiments and supports the hypothesis that the solitons generated in those experiments are unstable to the formation of vortex rings; the second demonstrates how population imbalance between up and down spin fermions can be used to prevent this instability. In the next study I discuss a method for generating and probing topologically protected edge states using periodically driven optical lattices potentials. Next I use a perturbative approach to study the spectral density of fermions with strong attractive interactions in the normal phase. After that I develop a novel cluster expansion technique to model the dynamics of interacting fermions in a disordered optical lattice. Finally I apply a Ginzurg-Landau theory to model experimental studies of superfluid 3He embedded in nematically ordered aerogel, finding evidence for a new phase of matter --the ``polar phase"-- which is not seen in bulk 3He.

Date Issued

2017-08-30

Keywords

Physics; Atomic physics; Condensed matter physics

Committee Chair

Mueller, Erich

Committee Member

Ginsparg, Paul Henry
Parpia, Jeevak M.

Degree Discipline

Physics

Degree Name

Ph. D., Physics

Degree Level

Doctor of Philosophy

Types

dissertation or thesis