Diffusion and Localization of Cold Atoms in 3D Optical Speckle

TL;DR

This paper develops a self-consistent theory for the localization and diffusion of Bose-Einstein condensates in three-dimensional optical speckle potentials, highlighting the impact of long-range disorder on atom mobility and localization.

Contribution

It reformulates and numerically solves the self-consistent localization theory for BECs in 3D speckle, accounting for velocity-dependent scattering due to long-range potential fluctuations.

Findings

Velocity-dependent scattering affects localization properties.

Mobility edge and localized atom fraction are influenced by long-range disorder.

Numerical analysis reveals the impact of speckle potential on BEC dynamics.

Abstract

In this work we re-formulate and solve the self-consistent theory for localization to a Bose-Einstein condensate expanding in a 3D optical speckle. The long-range nature of the fluctuations in the potential energy, treated in the self-consistent Born approximation, make the scattering strongly velocity dependent, and its consequences for mobility edge and fraction of localized atoms have been investigated numerically.