arXiv subjects

Tapio Simula

Publications and source records attributed to Tapio Simula.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Intermittent Motility of a Synthetic Active Particle in Changing Environments

We experimentally investigate the dynamics of synthetic active particles composed of gravitationally bouncing, superwalking droplets confined within an annular fluid bath. Driven by a topologically pumping dual-frequency waveform, the droplets exhibit alternating active (walking) and dormant (bouncing) phases, producing intermittent azimuthal motion. Tracking individual droplets reveals pseudolaminar chaotic dynamics in the time series of particle's angular position, characterized by laminar plateaus that are interrupted by short irregular bursts of activity. Increasing the driving amplitude induces a qualitative change in the active particle's intermittent dynamics, arising from a symmetry-breaking transition in its Faraday-wave field environment: continuous SO(2)-symmetric "channelling" waves give way to discrete "trapping" patterns. These findings demonstrate how environmental symmetry and spatiotemporal structure modulate motility and intermittency in synthetic active matter.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Topological transport of a classical droplet in a lattice of time

Thouless charge pumps are quantum mechanical devices whose operation relies on topology. They provide the means for transporting quantum matter in space lattices with a single quantum precision. Contrasting space crystals that spontaneously break a continuous spatial translation symmetry and form crystals in space,time crystals have emerged as novel states of matter that organize into time lattices and spontaneously break a discrete time translation symmetry. The utility of Thouless pumps that enable topologically protected quantised transport of electrons and neutral atoms in spatial superlattices leads to the question if corresponding devices exist for time crystals? Here we show that topological pumps can be realized for time solids by transporting droplets of a liquid forward and backward in time lattices and we measure the topological index that characterises such pumping processes. By exploiting a synthetic time dimension classical time crystals can circumvent the quantum tunneling that underpins Thouless charge pumps. Our results establish topological pumping through time instead of space and pave the way for applications of time crystals.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Vortex spin in a superfluid

General relativity predicts that the curvature of spacetime induces spin rotations on a parallel transported particle. We deploy Unruh's analogue gravity picture and consider a quantised vortex embedded in a two-dimensional superfluid Bose--Einstein condensate. We show that such a vortex behaves dynamically like a charged particle with a spin in a gravitational field. The existence of a vortex spin in a superfluid complements Onsager's prediction of the quantisation of circulation, and is suggestive of potential quantum technology applications of rotating superfluids.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Liquid Time Crystals

We have constructed and characterised an instrument to study gravitationally bouncing droplets of fluid, subjected to periodic driving force. Our system incorporates a droplet printer that enables an on-demand computer controlled deposition of droplets on the fluid surface. We demonstrate the operation of this instrument by creating and observing long-lived and interacting time crystals whose evolution we have witnessed for more than one hundred thousand oscillation periods. Our observations provide points of comparison for experiments that differentiate between quantum and classical time crystal behaviours in driven non-equilibrium systems.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Machine learning classification of two-dimensional vortex configurations

We consider computer generated configurations of quantised vortices in planar superfluid Bose-Einstein condensates. We show that unsupervised machine learning technology can successfully be used for classifying such vortex configurations to identify prominent vortex phases of matter. The machine learning approach could thus be applied for automatically classifying large data sets of vortex configurations obtainable by experiments on two-dimensional quantum turbulence.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Prime number factorization using a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate inspired topological quantum computer

Inspired by non-abelian vortex anyons in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, we consider the quantum double $\mathcal{D}(Q_8)$ anyon model as a platform to carry out a particular instance of Shor's factorization algorithm. We provide the excitation spectrum, the fusion rules, and the braid group representation for this model, and design a circuit architecture that facilitates the computation. All necessary quantum gates, less one, can be compiled exactly for this hybrid topological quantum computer, and to achieve universality the last operation can be implemented in a non-topological fashion. To analyse the effect of decoherence on the computation, a noise model based on stochastic unitary rotations is considered. The computational potential of this quantum double anyon model is similar to that of the Majorana fermion based Ising anyon model, offering a complementary future platform for topological quantum computation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Fibonacci anyons versus Majorana fermions

We have studied ${\rm SU}(2)_k$ anyon models, assessing their prospects for topological quantum computation. In particular, we have compared the Ising ($k=2$) anyon and Fibonacci ($k=3$) anyon models, motivated by their potential for future realizations based on Majorana fermion quasiparticles or exotic fractional quantum-Hall states, respectively. The quantum computational performance of the different anyon models is quantified at single qubit level by the difference between a target unitary operator and its approximation realised by anyon braiding. To facilitate efficient comparisons, we have developed a Monte Carlo enhanced Solovay-Kitaev quantum compiler algorithm that finds optimal braid words in polynomial time from the exponentially large search tree. Since universal quantum computation cannot be achieved within the Ising anyon model by braiding alone, we have introduced an additional elementary phase gate to model a non-topological measurement process, which restores universality of the anyon model at the cost of breaking the full topological protection. We model conventional kinds of decoherence processes algorithmically by introducing a controllable noise term to all non-topological gate operations. We find that for reasonable levels of decoherence, even the hybrid Ising anyon model retains a significant topological advantage over a conventional, non-topological, quantum computer. Furthermore, we find that only surprisingly short anyon braids are ever required to be compiled due to the gate noise exceeding the intrinsic error of the braid words already for word lengths of the order of $100$ elementary braids. We conclude that the future for hybrid topological quantum computation remains promising.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Gravitational vortex mass in a superfluid

We consider superfluid hydrodynamics of two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates. Interpreting the curvature of the macroscopic condensate wavefunction as an effective gravity in such a superfluid universe, we argue for a superfluid equivalence principle---that the gravitational mass of a quantised vortex should be equal to the inertial vortex mass. In this model, gravity and electromagnetism have the same origin and are emergent properties of the superfluid universe, which itself emerges from the underlying collective structure of more elementary particles, such as atoms. The Bose-Einstein condensate is identified as the elusive dark matter of the superfluid universe with vortices and phonons, respectively, corresponding to massive charged particles and massless photons. Implications of this cosmological picture of superfluids to the physics of dense vortex matter are considered.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

Emergence of superwalking droplets

A new class of self-propelled droplets, coined superwalkers, has been shown to emerge when a bath of silicone oil is vibrated simultaneously at a given frequency and its subharmonic tone with a relative phase difference between them (Valani et al. 2019). To understand the emergence of superwalking droplets, we explore their vertical and horizontal dynamics by extending previously established theoretical models for walkers driven by a single frequency to superwalkers driven by two frequencies. Here we show that driving the bath at two frequencies with an appropriate phase difference raises every second peak and lowers the intermediate peaks in the vertical periodic motion of the fluid surface. This allows large droplets that could otherwise not walk to leap over the intermediate peaks, resulting in superwalking droplets whose vertical dynamics is qualitatively similar to normal walkers. We find that the droplet's vertical and horizontal dynamics are strongly influenced by the relative height difference between successive peaks of the bath motion, a parameter that is controlled by the phase difference. Comparison of our simulated superwalkers with the experiments of Valani et al. (2019) shows good agreement for small- to moderate-sized superwalkers.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Superwalking droplets

A \textit{walker} is a droplet of liquid that self-propels on the free surface of an oscillating bath of the same liquid through feedback between the droplet and its wave field. We have studied walking droplets in the presence of two driving frequencies and have observed a new class of walking droplets, which we coin \textit{superwalkers}. Superwalkers may be more than double the size of the largest walkers, may travel at more than triple the speed of the fastest ones, and enable a plethora of novel multi-droplet behaviors.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Hong-Ou-Mandel-like two-droplet correlations

We present a numerical study of two-droplet pair correlations for in-phase droplets walking on a vibrating bath. Two such walkers are launched towards a common origin. As they approach, their carrier waves may overlap and the droplets have a non-zero probability of forming a two-droplet bound state. The likelihood of such pairing is quantified by measuring the probability of finding the droplets in a bound state at late times. Three generic types of two-droplet correlations are observed: promenading, orbiting and chasing pair of walkers. For certain parameters, the droplets may become correlated for certain initial path differences and remain uncorrelated for others, while in other cases the droplets may never produce droplet pairs. These observations pave the way for further studies of strongly correlated many-droplet behaviors in the hydrodynamical quantum analogs of bouncing and walking droplets.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Braiding and fusion of non-Abelian vortex anyons

We demonstrate that certain vortices in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates are non-Abelian anyons and may be useful for topological quantum computation. We perform numerical experiments of controllable braiding and fusion of such vortices, implementing the actions required for manipulating topological qubits. Our results suggest that a new platform for topological quantum information processing could potentially be developed by harnessing non-Abelian vortex anyons in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Introduction to topological quantum computation with non-Abelian anyons

Topological quantum computers promise a fault tolerant means to perform quantum computation. Topological quantum computers use particles with exotic exchange statistics called non-Abelian anyons, and the simplest anyon model which allows for universal quantum computation by particle exchange or braiding alone is the Fibonacci anyon model. One classically hard problem that can be solved efficiently using quantum computation is finding the value of the Jones polynomial of knots at roots of unity. We aim to provide a pedagogical, self-contained, review of topological quantum computation with Fibonacci anyons, from the braiding statistics and matrices to the layout of such a computer and the compiling of braids to perform specific operations. Then we use a simulation of a topological quantum computer to explicitly demonstrate a quantum computation using Fibonacci anyons, evaluating the Jones polynomial of a selection of simple knots. In addition to simulating a modular circuit-style quantum algorithm, we also show how the magnitude of the Jones polynomial at specific points could be obtained exactly using Fibonacci or Ising anyons. Such an exact algorithm seems ideally suited for a proof of concept demonstration of a topological quantum computer.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Vortex Mass in a Superfluid

We consider the inertial mass of a vortex in a superfluid. We obtain a vortex mass that is well defined and is determined microscopically and self-consistently by the elementary excitation energy of the kelvon quasiparticle localised within the vortex core. The obtained result for the vortex mass is found to be consistent with experimental observations on superfluid quantum gases and vortex rings in water. We propose a method to measure the inertial rest mass and Berry phase of a vortex in superfluid Bose and Fermi gases.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2015

Hamiltonian dynamics of two same-sign point vortices

We have studied numerically the Hamiltonian dynamics of two same-sign point vortices in an effectively two-dimensional, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. We have found in the phase space of the system an impenetrable wall that divides the dynamics into two distinct and exhaustive types. In the two-dimensional position-coordinate space, the first type corresponds to intersecting single-vortex orbits and the second type to orbits that have no points in common. The two types are also easily distinguished in the two-dimensional space spanned by the radial and angular velocities of the vortices: in the first type, both single-vortex orbits are the same simple loop in this two-dimensional space, whereas in the second type the two orbits constitute two nonintersecting loops. The phase-space-dividing wall is distinct from the bifurcation curve of rigidly rotating states found by Navarro et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 225301 (2013)].

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

A route to non-Abelian quantum turbulence in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

We have studied computationally the collision dynamics of spin-2 Bose--Einstein condensates initially confined in a triple-well trap. Depending on the intra- and inter-component relative phases of the initial state spinor wave function, the collision of the three condensate segments produces one of many possible vortex-antivortex lattices after which the system transitions to quantum turbulence. We find that the emerging vortex lattice structures can be described in terms of multi-wave interference. We show that the three-segment collisions can be used to systematically produce staggered vortex-antivortex honeycomb lattices of fractional-charge vortices, whose collision dynamics are known to be non-Abelian. Such condensate collider experiments could potentially be used as a controllable pathway to generating non-Abelian superfluid turbulence with networks of vortex rungs.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Emergence of order from turbulence in an isolated planar superfluid

We study the relaxation dynamics of an isolated zero temperature quasi-two-dimensional superfluid Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) that is imprinted with a spatially random distribution of quantum vortices. Following a period of vortex annihilation, we find that the remaining vortices self-organise into two macroscopic coherent `Onsager vortex' clusters that are stable indefinitely. We demonstrate that this occurs due to a novel physical mechanism --- the evaporative heating of the vortices --- that results in a negative temperature phase transition in the vortex degrees of freedom. At the end of our simulations the system is trapped in a non-thermal state. Our computational results provide a pathway to observing Onsager vortex states in a superfluid Bose gas.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Collective dynamics of vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

We have calculated collective mode spectra for three-dimensional, rotating Bose-Einstein condensates in oblate harmonic traps using the microscopic Bogoliubov-deGennes field theory. For condensates with $N_v$ vortices, $N_v$ Kelvin-Tkachenko mode branches are obtained. The features of these modes are compared with those predicted by a classical point vortex model. We have created movies to visualize the motion of the vortices corresponding to the Kelvin-Tkachenko waves.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗