publication . Article . Preprint . 2018

Towards the cold atom analog false vacuum

Jonathan Braden; Matthew C. Johnson; Hiranya V. Peiris; Silke Weinfurtner;
Open Access English
  • Published: 02 Jul 2018
  • Publisher: Springer Verlag
  • Country: United Kingdom
Abstract
Analog condensed matter systems present an exciting opportunity to simulate early Universe models in table-top experiments. We consider a recent proposal for an analog condensed matter experiment to simulate the relativistic quantum decay of the false vacuum. In the proposed experiment, two ultra-cold condensates are coupled via a time-varying radio-frequency field. The relative phase of the two condensates in this system is approximately described by a relativistic scalar field with a potential possessing a series of false and true vacuum local minima. If the system is set up in a false vacuum, it would then decay to a true vacuum via quantum mechanical tunnelling. Should such an experiment be realized, it would be possible to answer a number of open questions regarding non-perturbative phenomena in quantum field theory and early Universe cosmology. In this paper, we illustrate a possible obstruction: the time-varying coupling that is invoked to create a false vacuum for the long-wavelength modes of the condensate leads to a destabilization of shorter wavelength modes within the system via parametric resonance. We focus on an idealized setup in which the two condensates have identical properties and identical background densities. Describing the system by the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations (GPE), we use the machinery of Floquet theory to perform a linear stability analysis, calculating the wavenumber associated with the first instability band for a variety of experimental parameters. However, we demonstrate that, by tuning the frequency of the time-varying coupling, it may be possible to push the first instability band outside the validity of the GPE, where dissipative effects are expected to damp any instabilities. This provides a viable range of experimental parameters to perform analog experiments of false vacuum decay.
Comment: v1: 30 pages + appendices, 9 figures, to be submitted to JHEP; v2: Matches published version. Minor revisions, results unchanged
Persistent Identifiers

doi: 10.1007/jhep07(2018)014

Fields of Science (FOS) [Beta]
01 natural sciences, 0103 physical sciences, 010306 general physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics
Subjects
free text keywords: Nonperturbative Effects, Solitons Monopoles and Instantons, Effective Field Theories, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, High Energy Physics - Theory, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics, Condensed Matter - Quantum Gases, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, Quantum electrodynamics, Quantum field theory, Coupling (physics), Physics, Field (physics), Dissipative system, Quantum, False vacuum, Scalar field, Floquet theory, lcsh:Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, lcsh:QC770-798
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NSF| Programs on Critical Problems in Physics, Astrophysics and Biophysics at the Aspen Center for Physics
Project
Programs on Critical Problems in Physics, Astrophysics and Biophysics at the Aspen Center for Physics
  • Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Project Code: 1066293
  • Funding stream: Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences | Division of Physics
, EC| COSMICDAWN
Project
COSMICDAWN
Understanding the Origin of Cosmic Structure
  • Funder: European Commission (EC)
  • Project Code: 306478
  • Funding stream: FP7 | SP2 | ERC
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