Adiabaticity and localization in one-dimensional incommensurate lattices.
We experimentally investigate the role of localization on the adiabaticity of loading a Bose-Einstein condensate into a one-dimensional optical potential comprised of a shallow primary lattice plus one or two perturbing lattice(s) of incommensurate period. We find that even a very weak perturbation causes dramatic changes in the momentum distribution and makes adiabatic loading of the combined lattice much more difficult than for a single period lattice. We interpret our results using a band-structure model and the one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
Joint Quantum Institute and Department of Physics, University of Maryland, National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
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Edwards
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M
Beeler
Tao
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Hong
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Rolston