Freiburg 2024 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 24: Poster II

Q 24.18: Poster

Dienstag, 12. März 2024, 17:00–19:00, KG I Foyer

Curved and Expanding Spacetimes studied with a Quantum Field Simulator — Celia Viermann¹, Marius Sparn¹, Nikolas Liebster¹, Maurus Hans¹, •Elinor Kath¹, Álvaro Parra-López³, Mireia Tolosa-Simeón⁴, Natalia Sánchez-Kuntz⁵, Tobias Haas⁶, Christian Schmidt², Helmut Strobel¹, Stefan Floerchinger², and Markus K. Oberthaler¹ — ¹KIP, Uni Heidelberg, Germany — ²ITP, Uni Jena, Germany — ³DFT, Uni Madrid, Spain — ⁴LTPIII, Ruhr-Uni Bochum, Germany — ⁵ITP, Uni Heidelberg, Germany — ⁶CQIC, Uni libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

In most cosmological models, a rapid expansion of space in the early history of our universe is responsible for the creation of first structures. As the description of the involved processes is a theoretical challenge, quantum field simulators have proven to be valuable tools that offer an experimental approach to complex dynamics. We present such an experimental platform, based on a two-dimensional BEC, in which the phononic field simulates the evolution of a free, massless, scalar field in an FLRW spacetime. Positive and negative spatial curvatures can be implemented through specific atomic density distributions and can be made visible by observing the propagation of wave packets. An expanding spacetime can be simulated by decreasing the interatomic interactions. These expansions give rise to phononic excitations in a process analogue to cosmological particle production. We show that a statistical analysis of the resulting density fluctuation allows to differentiate between different expansion histories, which can be understood by mapping the process onto a stationary Schrödinger equation.

Keywords: 2d Bose-Einstein Condensate; Quantum Field Simulator; Analogue Cosmology; Curved Spacetimes; Analogue Particle Production