Emergent quantum field theories on curved spacetimes in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates: from scalar to Proca fields

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Schmidt, Christian F., Brunner, Simon, Floerchinger, Stefan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Schmidt, Christian F.
Brunner, Simon
Floerchinger, Stefan
author_facet Schmidt, Christian F.
Brunner, Simon
Floerchinger, Stefan
contents We consider excitations of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein-condensate (BEC) in the vicinity of different mean-field configurations and derive mappings to emergent relativistic quantum field theories minimally coupled to curved acoustic spacetimes. The quantum fields are typically identified with Nambu-Goldstone bosons, such that the structure of the analogue quantum field theories on curved spacetimes depends on the (spontaneous) symmetry breaking pattern of the respective ground-state. The emergent spacetime geometries are independent of each other and exhibit bi-metricity in the polar and antiferromagnetic phase, whereas one has tri-metricity in the ferromagnetic phase. Compared to scalar BECs, the spinor degrees of freedom allow to investigate massive vector and scalar fields where the former is a spin-nematic rotation mode in the polar phase which can be cast into a Proca field that is minimally coupled to a curved spacetime that emerges on length scales larger than the spin-healing length. Finally, we specify the Zeeman couplings and the condensate trap to be spacetime-dependent such that a cosmological FLRW-metric can be achieved. This work enables a pathway towards quantum-simulating cosmological particle production of Proca quanta via quenching the quadratic Zeeman-coefficient or via magnetic field ramps, which both result in the creation of spin-nematic squeezed states.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_13297
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Emergent quantum field theories on curved spacetimes in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates: from scalar to Proca fields
Schmidt, Christian F.
Brunner, Simon
Floerchinger, Stefan
Quantum Gases
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
We consider excitations of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein-condensate (BEC) in the vicinity of different mean-field configurations and derive mappings to emergent relativistic quantum field theories minimally coupled to curved acoustic spacetimes. The quantum fields are typically identified with Nambu-Goldstone bosons, such that the structure of the analogue quantum field theories on curved spacetimes depends on the (spontaneous) symmetry breaking pattern of the respective ground-state. The emergent spacetime geometries are independent of each other and exhibit bi-metricity in the polar and antiferromagnetic phase, whereas one has tri-metricity in the ferromagnetic phase. Compared to scalar BECs, the spinor degrees of freedom allow to investigate massive vector and scalar fields where the former is a spin-nematic rotation mode in the polar phase which can be cast into a Proca field that is minimally coupled to a curved spacetime that emerges on length scales larger than the spin-healing length. Finally, we specify the Zeeman couplings and the condensate trap to be spacetime-dependent such that a cosmological FLRW-metric can be achieved. This work enables a pathway towards quantum-simulating cosmological particle production of Proca quanta via quenching the quadratic Zeeman-coefficient or via magnetic field ramps, which both result in the creation of spin-nematic squeezed states.
title Emergent quantum field theories on curved spacetimes in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates: from scalar to Proca fields
topic Quantum Gases
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.13297