SPICE Workshop on Quantum Spinoptics, June 13th - 15th 2023
Tobias Donner
The time evolution of a quantum system can be strongly affected by dissipation. Although this mainly implies that the system relaxes to a steady state, in some cases it can lead to the appearance of new phases and trigger emergent dynamics. In our experiment, we study a Bose-Einstein Condensate dispersively coupled to a high finesse resonator. The cavity mode is populated via scattering off the atoms, such that the sum of the coupling field and the intracavity standing wave act as optical lattice potential. When the dissipative and the coherent timescales are comparable, we find a regime of persistent oscillations where the cavity field does not reach a steady state. In this regime the atoms experience an optical lattice that periodically deforms itself, without an external time dependent drive, leading to a pumping mechanism.