Moment of Inertia and Dynamical Rotational Response of a Supersolid Dipolar Gas

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the dynamical response of a dipolar supersolid gas to sudden trap rotations can be used to measure its moment of inertia, revealing complex rotational behaviors and proposing experimental protocols.

Contribution

It introduces a method to determine the moment of inertia of dipolar supersolids through response function analysis and simulations, highlighting the role of low frequency components.

Findings

Frequency of scissors oscillation indicates moment of inertia in 1D droplet arrays.

Multi-frequency signals reveal rigid body components in 2D configurations.

Proposed protocol involves stationary rotation and sudden stop for experimental measurement.

Abstract

We show that the knowledge of the time dependent response of a trapped gas, subject to a sudden rotation of a confining harmonic potential, allows for the determination of the moment of inertia of dipolar supersolid configurations. While in the presence of one-dimensional arrays of droplets the frequency of the resulting scissors oscillation provides accurate access to the value of the moment of inertia, two-dimensional like configurations are characterized by a multi-frequency structure in the rotating signal, reflecting the presence of significant rigid body components in the rotational motion. Using the formalism of response function theory and simulations based on the so-called extended time dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we point out the crucial role played by the low frequency components in the determination of the moment of inertia and of its deviations from the irrotational value. We also propose a protocol based on the stationary rotation of the trap, followed by its sudden stop, which might provide a promising alternative to the experimental evaluation of the moment of inertia.