Bidirectional dynamic scaling in an isolated Bose gas far from equilibrium

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of bidirectional dynamic self-similar scaling in an isolated Bose gas far from equilibrium, revealing universal features of thermalization and Bose-Einstein condensation.

Contribution

It demonstrates bidirectional dynamic scaling in an isolated Bose gas, showing universality of scaling exponents independent of interaction strength during thermalization.

Findings

Self-similar net flows of particles and energy during thermalization.

Scaling exponents are independent of interaction strength.

Observation of bidirectional dynamic scaling in an isolated quantum system.

Abstract

Understanding and classifying nonequilibrium many-body phenomena, analogous to the classification of equilibrium states of matter into universality classes, is an outstanding problem in physics. Any many-body system, from stellar matter to financial markets, can be out of equilibrium in a myriad of ways; since many are also difficult to experiment on, it is a major goal to establish universal principles that apply to different phenomena and physical systems. At the heart of the classification of equilibrium states is the universality seen in the self-similar spatial scaling of systems close to phase transitions. Recent theoretical work, and first experimental evidence, suggest that isolated many-body systems far from equilibrium generically exhibit dynamic (spatiotemporal) self-similar scaling, akin to turbulent cascades and the Family-Vicsek scaling in classical surface growth. Here we observe bidirectional dynamic scaling in an isolated quench-cooled atomic Bose gas; as the gas thermalises and undergoes Bose-Einstein condensation, it shows self-similar net flows of particles towards the infrared (smaller momenta) and energy towards the ultraviolet (smaller lengthscales). For both infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) dynamics we find that the scaling exponents are independent of the strength of the interparticle interactions that drive the thermalisation.