Contributed Talk: The dipolar supersolid: a self-induced Josephson junction
G. Biagioni1,2
1University of Florence, Department of Physics and Astronomy
2CNR-INO, Pisa Section
The supersolid is a fundamental state of matter combining superfluidity with a crystalline structure, realized for the first time in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of strongly magnetic atoms in 2019 [1]. In my talk, I’ll briefly present some important results obtained during my PhD: the measurement of the moment of inertia of the supersolid [2] and the characterization of the quantum phase transition from the superfluid (the BEC) to the supersolid [3]. I’ll devote most of the talk to our more recent work, in preparation, where we characterize the Josephson dynamics between the clusters of the supersolid. I’ll show that, remarkably, the supersolid can perform population and phase oscillations in analogy with a bosonic Josephson junction. We characterize such oscillations both experimentally and with numerical simulations. However, I’ll show that the self-induced barrier introduces exciting new phenomena, such as a very low-energy Goldstone mode in competition with the Josephson mode, which makes the supersolid
Josephson junction a completely new system where to study Josephson-related superfluid effects. I’ll also discuss ideas to employ the novel supersolid junction as an innovative platform to study matter-wave interferometry and entanglement.
[1] L. Tanzi et al., PRL, 122, 130405 (2019).
[2] L. Tanzi, J.G. Maloberti, G. Biagioni et al., Science, 374, 6534 (2021).
[3] G. Biagioni et al., PRX 12, 021019 (2022).
