Interacting Fermionic Atoms in Optical Lattices Diffuse Symmetrically Upwards and Downwards in a Gravitational Potential

Stephan Mandt, Akos Rapp, and Achim Rosch
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 250602 – Published 24 June 2011
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Abstract

We consider a cloud of fermionic atoms in an optical lattice described by a Hubbard model with an additional linear potential. While homogeneous interacting systems mainly show damped Bloch oscillations and heating, a finite cloud behaves differently: It expands symmetrically such that gains of potential energy at the top are compensated by losses at the bottom. Interactions stabilize the necessary heat currents by inducing gradients of the inverse temperature 1/T, with T<0 at the bottom of the cloud. An analytic solution of hydrodynamic equations shows that the width of the cloud increases with t1/3 for long times consistent with results from our Boltzmann simulations.

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  • Received 26 January 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.250602

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Stephan Mandt, Akos Rapp, and Achim Rosch

  • Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany

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Vol. 106, Iss. 25 — 24 June 2011

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