Hannover 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 53: Quantum information: Atoms and ions IV
Q 53.7: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 21. März 2013, 15:45–16:00, A 310
Topological defect formation and dynamics of symmetry breaking in ion Coulomb crystals — •Jonas Keller1, Karsten Pyka1, Heather L. Partner1, Ramil Nigmatullin2, Tobias Burgermeister1, Martin B. Plenio2, Alex Retzker3, Wojciech Zurek4, Adolfo del Campo4, and Tanja E. Mehlstäubler1 — 1Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig — 2Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Ulm — 3Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem — 4Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory
0pt
Structural defects in ion Coulomb crystals (kinks) have been proposed for studies of quantum-mechanical effects with solitons and as carriers of quantum information [1]. Defects form when a symmetry breaking phase transition is crossed and the finite speed of information prevents different regions from coordinating the choice of the symmetry broken state. In our case, the second-order phase transition from the linear to the zigzag configuration of a Coulomb crystal is driven by quenching the radial trapping potential. We demonstrated the creation of stable kinks and present experimental results on kink dynamics and losses. These allowed a quantitative verification of the power law scaling of kink density with the quench time as predicted by the paradigmatic Kibble-Zurek mechanism [2]. This theory applies to phase transitions in a wide range of fields, from cosmology to solid state physics and vortices in superfluids.
[1] Landa et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 043004 (2010)
[2] Pyka et al., arXiv:1211.7005 (2012)