Fast transport of Bose-Einstein condensates in anharmonic traps

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rapid, high-fidelity method for transporting Bose-Einstein condensates in anharmonic traps by combining variational and inverse engineering techniques, accounting for atom interactions and trap anharmonicities.

Contribution

It develops a novel inverse engineering approach based on Ermakov-like equations to control BEC transport in anharmonic traps without residual excitation.

Findings

Successful transport in cubic and quartic anharmonic traps demonstrated.

Achieved short-time, high-fidelity BEC transport with minimal residual excitation.

Potential applications in atom interferometry and quantum information processing.

Abstract

We present a method to transport Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in anharmonic traps and in the presence of atom-atom interactions in short times without residual excitation. Using a combination of a variational approach and inverse engineering methods, we derive a set of Ermakov-like equations that take into account the coupling between the center of mass motion and the breathing mode. By an appropriate inverse engineering strategy of those equations, we then design the trap trajectory to achieve the desired boundary conditions. Numerical examples for cubic or quartic anharmonicities are provided for fast and high-fidelity transport of BECs. Potential applications are atom interferometry and quantum information processing.