Tricriticalities and Quantum Phases in Spin-Orbit-Coupled Spin-$1$ Bose Gases

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex phase diagram of a spin-orbit-coupled spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate, revealing tricritical points and diverse striped phases influenced by interactions and external fields.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of tricritical points and phase transitions in spin-orbit-coupled spin-1 Bose gases with varying interaction types.

Findings

Identification of three distinct striped phases.

Demonstration of phase transitions controllable by experimental parameters.

Explicit discussion of tricritical points arising from spin-dependent interactions.

Abstract

We study the zero-temperature phase diagram of a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate of spin $1$, with equally weighted Rashba and Dresselhaus couplings. Depending on the antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic nature of the interactions, we find three kinds of striped phases with qualitatively different behaviors in the modulations of the density profiles. Phase transitions to the zero-momentum and the plane-wave phases can be induced in experiments by independently varying the Raman coupling strength and the quadratic Zeeman field. The properties of these transitions are investigated in detail, and the emergence of tricritical points, which are the direct consequence of the spin-dependent interactions, is explicitly discussed.