• Open Access

Superglass formation in an atomic BEC with competing long-range interactions

Stefan Ostermann, Valentin Walther, and Susanne F. Yelin
Phys. Rev. Research 4, 023074 – Published 27 April 2022

Abstract

The complex dynamical phases of quantum systems are dictated by atomic interactions that usually evoke an emergent periodic order. Here, we study a quantum many-body system with two competing and substantially different long-range interaction potentials where the dynamical instability towards density order can give way to a disordered amorphous solid, which exhibits local density modulations but no long-range periodic order. We consider a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate in the Rydberg-dressing regime coupled to an optical standing wave resonator. The dynamic pattern formation in this system is governed by the competition between the two involved interaction potentials: repulsive soft-core interactions arising due to Rydberg dressing and infinite-range sign changing interactions induced by the cavity photons. The amorphous phase is found when the two interaction potentials introduce incommensurate length scales. The dynamic formation of this peculiar phase can be attributed to frustration induced by the two competing interaction energies and length scales.

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  • Received 30 September 2021
  • Accepted 7 April 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023074

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Stefan Ostermann1,*, Valentin Walther1,2, and Susanne F. Yelin1

  • 1Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 2ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

  • *stefanostermann@g.harvard.edu

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Vol. 4, Iss. 2 — April - June 2022

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