Hannover 2013 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 32: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC VI (with Q)

A 32.4: Talk

Thursday, March 21, 2013, 11:45–12:00, B 305

Hermitian four-well potential as a realization of a PT symmetric system — •Manuel Kreibich, Jörg Main, and Günter Wunner — 1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany

A PT symmetric Bose-Einstein condensate can be theoretically described using a complex optical potential, however, the experimental realization of such an optical potential describing the coherent in- and outcoupling of particles is a nontrivial task.

As an alternative, we propose an experiment for a quantum mechanical realization of a PT symmetric system. The PT symmetric currents of a two-well system are implemented by coupling two additional wells to the system, which act as particle reservoirs. In terms of a simple four-mode model we derive conditions under which the two middle wells of the Hermitian four-well system behave exactly as the two wells of the PT symmetric system. We apply these conditions to calculate stationary solutions and oscillatory dynamics. By means of frozen Gaussian wave packets we relate the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to the four-mode model and give parameters required for the external potential, which provides approximate conditions for a realistic experimental setup.