Scissors Modes of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Synthetic Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamics of scissors modes in a Bose-Einstein condensate under a synthetic magnetic field, revealing mode coupling, beating effects, and gyroscope-like behavior with implications for quantum sensing.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical and numerical analysis of scissors mode coupling and gyroscopic effects in BECs influenced by synthetic magnetic fields, a novel exploration in this context.

Findings

Scissors modes couple to quadrupole modes, causing beating effects.

Vertical scissors modes are coupled, leading to gyroscope dynamics.

Predictions are experimentally accessible with current cold-atom technology.

Abstract

We study the scissors modes of a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate under the influence of a synthetic magnetic field, which induces rigid rotational components in the velocity field. Our investigation reveals that the scissors mode, excited in the plane perpendicular to the synthetic magnetic field, becomes coupled to the quadrupole modes of the condensate, giving rise to typical beating effects. Moreover, the two scissors modes excited in the vertical planes are also coupled together by the synthetic magnetic field, resulting in intriguing gyroscope dynamics. Our analytical results, derived from a spinor hydrodynamic theory, are further validated through numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. These predictions for the condensates subject to a synthetic magnetic field are experimentally accessible with current cold-atom setups and hold promise for potential applications in quantum sensing.