Quantum Rayleigh-Taylor instability in two dimensional Bose gases

• Grant number: 22/09880-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Principal Investigator: Patrícia Christina Marques Castilho
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Cook Cunha
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Hydrodynamic instabilities are present in a wide variety of everyday phenomena. Ocean waves, the organization of water droplets into a spider's web, and the mushroom clouds resulting from volcanic eruptions are all examples of such instabilities. In the case of quantum fluids, quantum hydrodynamic instabilities, analogous to those of classical fluids, are related to the superfluid properties of these systems. An example in this direction is the quantum Rayleigh-Taylor instability that can be systematically studied in ultracold gas systems thanks to the high level of control and detection of these systems. In this direct PhD project, we propose to excite the quantum analogue of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a two-dimensional (2D) degenerate Bose gas and the subsequent study of the dynamics of the excitations arising from this instability. For this purpose, a new experimental system will be built combining the latest technologies used in this type of experimental system in order to enable the creation of two-dimensional gases with tunable interaction and subject to arbitrary potentials and perturbations, guaranteeing the necessary conditions for the unprecedented observation of the Rayleigh- Taylor in this context. (AU)