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Nonequilibrium dynamics in low-dimensional cold atom condensates

Abstract:

Nonequilibrium dynamics in strongly correlated quantum systems is an extremely interesting yet very difficult problem, both theoretically and experimentally. In traditional, "electronic" condensed matter systems, nonequilibrium phenomena are hard to observe, primarily due to the very strong coupling of the electrons to dissipative environment. In contrast, cold atom systems are nearly isolated from the environment. This makes it possible to observe far from equilibrium dynamics in such systems on long time scales. I will present our recent work on the dynamics of decoherence of a cold atom interferometer, consisting of a pair of low-dimensional condensates. Low dimensionality results in interesting consequences for the dynamics, in particular in the emergence of universal classical dynamics at long times. I will compare this theory with recent experiments of Joerg Schmiedmayer's group.