Dynamics of a mobile impurity in a two-leg bosonic ladder

• We analyze the behavior of a mobile quantum impurity, restricted to a one-dimensional motion, in a bath formed by a two-leg bosonic ladder through a combination of field theory [Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL)] and numerical (density-matrix renormalization group) techniques. We compute the Green's function of the impurity as a function of time at different momenta. We find a power-law decay at zero momentum, which signals the breakdown of a quasiparticle description of the impurity motion. We compute the exponent both for the limits of weak and strong impurity-bath interactions. At small impurity-bath interaction, the impurity experiences the ladder as a single channel one-dimensional bath, but with an effective coupling reduced by a factor of root 2. We compare the numerical results for the exponent at zero momentum with a semianalytical expression, initially established for the chain, and find excellent agreement without adjustable parameters. We find an increase of the exponent with increasing transverse tunneling in the bath. At small tunneling, the exponent is compatible with the TLL prediction, while larger tunneling shows strong deviations. Finally, we show that, as a function of the momentum of the impurity, two different regimes of decay of the Green's function exist, similar to the single chain case. The power-law regime occurs for small momentum, while at large momentum the Green's function shows a faster decay, corresponding to the one expected in a polaronic regime. In this last regime, we compute the lifetime of the polaron numerically. We compute the critical momentum marking the transition between these two regimes. We compare with analytical predictions based on the structure factor of the bath and find good agreement with the numerical results. Finally, we discuss the consequences of our results for cold atomic experiments.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Physics with spec. in Atomic, Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics

Fysik med inriktning mot atom- molekyl- och kondenserande materiens fysik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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