Bosonic Josephson junctions: thermal and dipolar effects

by Cesare Vianello

Thursday 2 Apr 2026, 16:30 → 16:45 Europe/Rome

1/1-3 - Aula B (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia - Edificio Marzolo)

Ultracold bosonic atoms confined in a quasi-one-dimensional double-well potential provide a versatile atomic (superfluid) analogue of a superconducting Josephson junction. 

The system exhibits macroscopic quantum coherence, enabling an effective description in terms of collective variables, namely the relative phase and the population imbalance between the condensates in each well. 

In this context, I will present (1) a semiclassical approach for evaluating thermal averages, including quantum corrections, and (2) an analysis of the effects of dipolar interactions on the zero-temperature phase diagram, characterizing the resulting quantum phase transitions.