title: Phase separation and pattern formation in a binary Bose-Einstein condensate.
abstract: The miscibility-immiscibility phase transition in binary Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can be controlled by a coupling between the two components. Here we propose a new scheme that uses coupling-induced pattern formation to test the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) of topological-defect formation in a quantum phase transition. For a binary BEC in a ring trap we find that the number of domains forming the pattern scales as a function of the coupling quench rate with an exponent as predicted by the KZM. For a binary BEC in an elongated harmonic trap we find a different scaling law due to the transition being spatially inhomogeneous. We perform a "quantum simulation" of the harmonically trapped system in a ring trap to verify the scaling exponent.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queensland 4072, Australia. sabbatini@physics.uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sabbatini
authors.forename: Wojciech H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Zurek
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Davis