Study of out-of-equilibrium systems: turbulence generation and non-thermal fixed points detection

Abstract

Bose-Einstein condesates are used in the development of different research fields, including turbulence in quantum gases, which is our main area. Understanding turbulence in a fluid in which all parameters can be controlled in a laboratory can help us to understand turbulence in other fluids present in our daily lives. We know that an external excitation can be used to drive a condensate out of equilibrium. Understand the mechamisms that can induce the turbulent state is the main focus of our project. In the researches that this group has been developing, the condensate is trapped in a pure magnetic trap, and the external excitation is performed throught an oscillatory magnetic field. This magnetic field not only acts on the atoms, but it also changes the trapping potential. Here we propose an alternative way to trap the atoms by using a spherical optical trap, to decouple the external excitation from the trapping potential. This can provide us a new way to understand the fundaments that contribute to the generation of a turbulent state. (AU)