Harmonically Trapped Atoms with Spin-Orbit Coupling

TL;DR

This paper investigates the effects of spin-orbit coupling on harmonically trapped atoms, analyzing single-particle states, two-particle interactions, and implications for many-body properties in a one-dimensional system.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of how Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling influence the ground state degeneracy and correlations in trapped atomic systems.

Findings

Degeneracy of the ground state is affected by spin-orbit coupling.

Interaction modifies spin density profiles and correlations.

Insights into many-body behavior from two-particle studies.

Abstract

We study harmonically trapped one-dimensional atoms subjected to an equal combination of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling induced by Raman transition. We first examine the wave function and the degeneracy of the single-particle ground state, followed by a study of two weakly interacting bosons or fermions. For the two-particle ground state, we focus on the effects of the interaction on the degeneracy, the spin density profiles, and the density-density correlation functions. Finally we show how these studies help us to understand the many-body properties of the system.