THEORY GROUP

In our theory group, we utilise state-of-the-art methods to model the experiments of the ERBIUM and Er-Dy LABs, and provide assistance in guiding future experiments into the exciting phenomena not yet explored in dipolar quantum gases. The first major project of the theory group was to understand two-dimensional supersolidity, and we developed variational methods to investigate ideal scenarios moving from one- to two-dimensional droplet arrays, and new finite temperature theory to investigate evaporative cooling directly into the supersolid phase. This lead to the first observation of a 2D supersolid in a circular trap. With the erbium lab, we recently developed a discrete-one-dimensional model for strongly dipolar gases in a 1D lattice, elucidating new droplet and soliton phases in this system, explaining the observations from the erbium experiment.

Most recently, our focus has been on the study of two-component dipolar systems, and the nature of supersolidity in these systems.

If you want to learn more about the Theory group, you can find more info in the publications and/or contact us.

Lab news

Investigating vortices in dipolar quantum gases

In this paper, together with Dr. Giacomo Lamporesi at the University of Trento, we investigate more thoroughly the conditions required to generate vortices through magnetostirring, focussing on the currently experimentally accessible regime.

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Supersolids and… neutron stars?!

Glitches--randomly distributed changes in a neutron star's rotation--also occur in supersolids!

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Putting a supersolid under pressure

With collaborators from the University of Otago, we investigate the excitation spectrum and compressibility at the superfluid-to-supersolid transition point, showing that the speeds of sound and the compressibility are discontinuous at the transition.

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