21–26 Jun 2026
U. Ottawa - Learning Crossroads (CRX) Building
America/Toronto timezone
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Quantum Dam Breaks in Expanding Bose–Einstein Condensates and the Emergence of Dispersive Waves, Double Rainbows, and Black-Hole Horizons

23 Jun 2026, 18:00
1h 30m
U. Ottawa - Learning Crossroads (CRX) Building

U. Ottawa - Learning Crossroads (CRX) Building

100 Louis-Pasteur Private, Ottawa, ON K1N 9N3
Oral not-in-competition (Graduate Student) / Orale non-compétitive (Étudiant(e) du 2e ou 3e cycle) Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Canada / Physique atomique, moléculaire et photonique, Canada (DAMOPC-DPAMPC) DAMOPC Poster Session & Student Poster Competition | Session d'affiches DPAMPC et concours d'affiches étudiantes

Speaker

Liam Farrell (McMaster University)

Description

The sudden removal of trapping potentials in Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) gives rise to superfluid versions of hydrodynamic $\textit{dam-breaking}$ problems, leading to rich quantum dispersive-wave dynamics. Denoting $\Delta n/n_{0}$ as the initial difference in density between the two reservoirs on either side of the dam relative to the lower reservoir density $n_{0}$, we numerically and analytically study the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to model both perturbative $\Delta n << n_{0}$ and non-perturbative $\Delta n\sim n_{0}$ quantum dam-breaking scenarios. We compare and contrast the different regimes by making connections to the mathematics of tidal bores, and reveal an underlying wave structure that mimics the physics of double rainbows. In the non-perturbative regime dam-breaking can be accompanied by the formation of dynamical sonic event horizons within rarefaction waves. We comment on the horizon dynamics and the possibility of detecting sonic Hawking radiation from such horizons.

Keyword-1 Bose-Einstein Condensate
Keyword-2 Dynamics
Keyword-3 Analogue gravity

Author

Liam Farrell (McMaster University)

Co-authors

Mr Alexander Harris (McMaster University) Mr David Tyler (University of Toronto) Dr Duncan O'Dell (McMaster University)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.