Quantum Motion in Two Dimensions

This project seeks to leverage extreme control of ultracold atom samples to explore novel regimes of quantum motion in two spatial dimensions (2D). Two phenomena have particular manifestations in 2D: Anderson localisation and quantum turbulence. In 2D Anderson localisation, the mobility of quantum particles is predicted to be highly sensitive to spin-orbit coupling, undergoing a phase transition from a localised state to a metallic state as the spin-orbit coupling increases. In planar quantum turbulence, the 3D direct energy cascade to small scales is reversed, causing energy to instead accumulate at the system scale as large scale quantum storms. Both of these phenomena have been theoretically predicted but not yet experimentally observed. They are however accessible to the University of Auckland's ultracold atom laboratory, which offers pristine optical control of ultracold bosonic atoms in a degenerate Bose-Einstein condensate. This project will experimentally and theoretically explore 2D Anderson localization in the presences of spin-orbit coupling, as well as the dynamics of vortices in a 2D Bose gas after excitation. It will be joinly led through a collaboration between the University of OTago and the University of Auckland.