How to study correlation functions in fluctuating Bose liquids using interference experiments

TL;DR

This paper discusses how interference experiments with Bose liquids can be used to analyze correlation functions, employing conformal field theory to calculate the full distribution of fringe contrast, revealing insights into quantum many-body physics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to compute the full quantum distribution of fringe contrast in 1D Bose liquids using conformal field theory, linking interference patterns to correlation functions.

Findings

Scaling of fringe contrast reveals Luttinger liquid behavior

Higher moments determine higher order correlation functions

Conformal field theory enables full distribution calculations

Abstract

Interference experiments with independent condensates provide a powerful tool for analyzing correlation functions. Scaling of the average fringe contrast with the system size is determined by the two-point correlation function and can be used to study the Luttinger liquid liquid behavior in one-dimensional systems and to observe the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in two-dimensional quasicondensates. Additionally, higher moments of the fringe contrast can be used to determine the higher order correlation functions. In this article we focus on interference experiments with one-dimensional Bose liquids and show that methods of conformal field theory can be applied to calculate the full quantum distribution function of the fringe contrast.