Observation of quantum droplets in a heteronuclear bosonic mixture

Year: 2019

Authors: D’Errico C., Burchianti A., Prevedelli M., Salasnich L., Ancilotto F., Modugno M., Minardi F., Fort C.

Autors Affiliation: CNR, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; LENS and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Galileo Galilei” and CNISM, Università di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; CNR-IOM Democritos, 265-34136 Trieste, Italy; Departamento de Fisíca Teórica e Historia de la Ciencia, Universidad del Pais Vasco UPV/EHU, 48080 Bilbao, Spain; IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain

Abstract: We report on the formation of heteronuclear quantum droplets in an attractive bosonic mixture of 41K and 87Rb. We observe long-lived self-bound states, both in free space and in an optical waveguide. In the latter case, the dynamics under the effect of a species-dependent force confirms their bound nature. By tuning the interactions from the weakly to the strongly attractive regime, we study the transition from expanding to localized states, in both geometries. We compare the experimental results with beyond-mean-field theory and we find good agreement in the full range of explored interactions. Our findings provide access to the production of long-lived droplets with important implications for further research.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH

Volume: 1 (3)      Pages from: 33155-1  to: 33155-8

More Information: We acknowledge inspiring discussions with M. Fattori. We thank M. Inguscio for support and A. Simoni for collisional calculations. This work was supported by the European Commission through FET Flagship on Quantum Technologies, Qombs Project (Grant No. 820419) and by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Firenze through project SUPERACI-Superfluid Atomic Circuits. M.M. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund FEDER through Grant No. PGC2018-101355-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), and the Basque Government through Grant No. IT986-16.
KeyWords: Bose-Einstein condensates; ultracold gases; Bose-Bose mixtures; ultracold atoms; quantum droplets
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.033155

Citations: 220
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