Strongly anomalous non-thermal fixed point in a quenched two-dimensional Bose gas

TL;DR

This paper investigates the universal scaling behavior of a quenched two-dimensional Bose gas, revealing a strongly anomalous non-thermal fixed point characterized by slow defect decay and large anomalous exponents through semi-classical simulations.

Contribution

It identifies and characterizes a novel non-thermal fixed point with anomalous scaling exponents in a quenched 2D Bose gas, linking quantum-field and classical phase-ordering theories.

Findings

Discovery of a strongly anomalous non-thermal fixed point with large exponents.

Identification of a power-law decay consistent with three-vortex collisions.

Connection between anomalous scaling and conservation-law induced dynamics.

Abstract

Universal scaling behavior in the relaxation dynamics of an isolated two-dimensional Bose gas is studied by means of semi-classical stochastic simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii model. The system is quenched far out of equilibrium by imprinting vortex defects into an otherwise phase-coherent condensate. A strongly anomalous non-thermal fixed point is identified, associated with a slowed decay of the defects in the case that the dissipative coupling to the thermal background noise is suppressed. At this fixed point, a large anomalous exponent $\eta \simeq -3$ and, related to this, a large dynamical exponent $z \simeq 5$ are identified. The corresponding power-law decay is found to be consistent with three-vortex-collision induced loss. The article discusses these aspects of non-thermal fixed points in the context of phase-ordering kinetics and coarsening dynamics, thus relating phenomenological and analytical approaches to classifying far-from-equilibrium scaling dynamics with each other. In particular, a close connection between the anomalous scaling exponent $\eta$, introduced in a quantum-field theoretic approach, and conservation-law induced scaling in classical phase-ordering kinetics is revealed. Moreover, the relation to superfluid turbulence as well as to driven stationary systems is discussed.