Dilute Fluid Governed by Quantum Fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to create a quantum system where interactions are canceled, leaving quantum fluctuations as the dominant effect, enabling precise measurement of Lee-Huang-Yang correlations in Bose gases.

Contribution

It introduces a method to tune Bose-Bose mixtures to eliminate mean-field interactions, isolating quantum fluctuation effects for detailed study.

Findings

Mean-field interactions can be canceled in Bose-Bose mixtures.

The Lee-Huang-Yang correlation energy can be accurately measured.

The system's behavior is robust against experimental deviations.

Abstract

Understanding the effects of interactions in complex quantum systems beyond the mean-field paradigm constitutes a fundamental problem in physics. Here, we show how the atom numbers and interactions in a Bose-Bose mixture can be tuned to cancel mean-field interactions completely. The resulting system is entirely governed by quantum fluctuations -- specifically the Lee-Huang-Yang correlations. We derive an effective one-component Gross-Pitaevskii equation for this system, which is shown to be very accurate by comparison with a full two-component description. This allows us to show how the Lee-Huang-Yang correlation energy can be accurately measured using two powerful probes of atomic gases: collective excitations and radio-frequency spectroscopy. Importantly, the behavior of the system is robust against deviations from the atom number and interaction criteria for canceling the mean-field interactions. This shows that it is feasible to realize a setting where quantum fluctuations are not masked by mean-field forces, allowing investigations of the Lee-Huang-Yang correction at unprecedented precision.