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# Mean-Field Theory of Feshbach-Resonant Interactions in 85Rb Condensates

## Abstract

Recent Feshbach-resonance experiments with 85Rb Bose-Einstein condensates have led to a host of unexplained results: dramatic losses of condensate atoms for an across-resonance sweep of the magnetic field, a collapsing condensate with a burst of atoms emanating from the remnant condensate, increased losses for decreasing interaction times—until very short times are reached, and coherent oscillations between remnant and burst atoms. Using a simple yet realistic mean-field model, we find that rogue dissociation, molecular dissociation to noncondensate atom pairs, is strongly implicated as the physical mechanism responsible for these observations.

Introduction– The process known as the Feshbach resonance occurs when two ultracold atoms collide in the presence of a magnetic field, whereby a spin flip of one atom can induce the pair to jump from the two-atom continuum to a quasibound molecular state. If the initial atoms are Bose condensed, the so-formed molecules will also comprise a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) . Since the Feshbach resonance is mathematically identical to photoassociation , the process that occurs when two ultracold atoms form a molecule by absorbing a photon, insight gathered in either case is applicable to the other. In particular, the most recent results from photoassociation predict that rogue dissociation, molecular dissociation to noncondensate atom pairs, imposes a maximum achievable rate on atom-molecule conversion, as well as the possibility of coherent Rabi oscillations between the BEC and the dissociated atom pairs .

As predicted , the Feshbach resonance was used to enable Bose condensation in 85Rb by tuning the natively negative atom-atom scattering length into the positive regime . Part of this experiment involved a sweep of the magnetic field across the Feshbach resonance, resulting in heavy condensate losses ($`80`$% for the slowest sweep rates). Additional experiments led to the observation of collapsing condensates, an event characterized by bursts of atoms emanating from a remnant BEC, and coined ”bosenova” for the analogy with a supernova explosion . More recently, experiments with pulsed magnetic fields that come close to, but do not cross, the Feshbach-resonance have revealed a striking increase in condensate loss for a decrease in the interaction time– until reaching very short times . Finally, double-pulse results indicate large amplitude remnant-burst oscillations ($`25\%`$), with the missing atoms prompting speculation on the formation of a molecular condensate .

However, recent work on Feshbach-stimulated photoproduction of stable molecular condensates indicates that rogue dissociation dominates atom-molecule conversion for the above 85Rb Feshbach resonance, meaning that it is practically useless for producing any significant fraction of molecular BEC, stable or otherwise . Additionally, assertions of a breakdown of mean-field theory in the face of large resonance-induced scattering lengths  are intriguing, especially given that theory actually faults the effective all-atom description . The purpose of this Letter is to test a mean-field model of coherent atom-molecule conversion against the salient features of the JILA experiments, with the intent of developing an understanding of the basic physics involved.

Mean-field theory– The mathematical equivalence of the Feshbach-resonance  and photoassociation  lies in both processes being described, in terms of second quantization, as destroying two atoms and creating a molecule. We therefore model a quantum degenerate gas of atoms coupled via a Feshbach resonance to a condensate of quasibound molecules based on Refs. . The initial atoms are denoted by the boson field $`\varphi (𝐫,t)`$, and the quasibound molecules by the field $`\psi (𝐫,t)`$. The Hamiltonian density for this system is

$`{\displaystyle \frac{}{\mathrm{}}}`$ $`=`$ $`\varphi ^{}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}}\right]\varphi +\psi ^{}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}^2}{4m}}+\delta _0\right]\psi `$ (2)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2\sqrt{\rho }}}[\psi ^{}\varphi \varphi +\varphi ^{}\varphi ^{}\psi ],`$
$$\mathrm{\Omega }=\underset{ϵ0}{lim}\sqrt{\frac{\sqrt{2}\pi \mathrm{}^{3/2}\rho }{\mu ^{3/2}}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(ϵ)}{\sqrt{ϵ}}},$$
(3)
where $`m=2\mu `$ is the mass of an atom, $`\mathrm{}\delta _0`$ is the energy difference between a molecule and two atoms, $`\rho `$ is an invariant density equal to the sum of atom density and twice the molecular density, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(ϵ)`$ is the dissociation rate for a molecule with the energy $`\mathrm{}ϵ`$ above the threshold of the Feshbach resonance.

Switching to momentum space, only zero-momentum atomic and molecular condensate modes are retained, represented by the respective $`c`$-number amplitudes $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$. We also take into account correlated pairs of noncondensate atoms using a complex amplitude $`C(ϵ)`$, which represent pairs of noncondensate atoms in the manner of the Heisenberg picture expectation value $`a_𝐩a_𝐩`$, with $`\mathrm{}ϵ`$ being the relative energy of the atoms. The normalization of our mean fields is such that $`|\alpha |^2+|\beta |^2+𝑑ϵ|C(ϵ)|^2=1`$. We work from the Heisenberg equation of motion of the boson operators under the simplifying assumption that the noncondensate atoms pairs are only allowed to couple back to the molecular condensate, ignoring the possibility that noncondensate atoms associate to make noncondensate molecules. This neglect is justified to the extent that Bose enhancement favors transitions back to the molecular condensate. The final mean-field equations are

$`i\dot{\alpha }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{\sqrt{2}}}\alpha ^{}\beta ,`$ (5)
$`i\dot{\beta }`$ $`=`$ $`\delta _0\beta {\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{\sqrt{2}}}\alpha \alpha {\displaystyle \frac{\xi }{\sqrt{2\pi }}}{\displaystyle 𝑑ϵ\sqrt[4]{ϵ}C(ϵ)},`$ (6)
$`i\dot{C}(ϵ)`$ $`=`$ $`ϵC(ϵ){\displaystyle \frac{\xi }{\sqrt{2\pi }}}\sqrt[4]{ϵ}\beta .`$ (7)
The analog of the Rabi frequency for the rogue modes $`\xi `$ is inferred using Fermi Golden rule, which gives the dissociation rate for a positive-energy molecule as

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(ϵ)=\sqrt{ϵ}\xi ^2.$$
(8)
Next the problem is reformulated in terms of two key parameters with the dimension of frequency. The density-dependent frequency

$$\omega _\rho =\frac{\mathrm{}\rho ^{2/3}}{m},$$
(9)
has been identified before, along with the operational significance that, once $`\mathrm{\Omega }\stackrel{>}{}\omega _\rho `$, rogue dissociation is expected to be a dominant factor in the dynamics . Here it is convenient to define another primary parameter with the dimension of frequency. Considering on-shell dissociation of molecules to atoms with the relative energy $`ϵ`$, the Wigner threshold law delivers a dissociation rate $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(ϵ)`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(ϵ)/\sqrt{ϵ}`$ converges to a finite limit for $`ϵ0`$; hence, we define

$$\mathrm{\Xi }=\left(\underset{ϵ0}{lim}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(ϵ)}{2\sqrt{ϵ}}\right)^2,$$
(10)
which indeed has the dimension of frequency. Comparison of Eqs. (3), (8), (9) and (10) give the parameters in the mean-field equations as

$$\mathrm{\Omega }=2^{3/2}\sqrt{\pi }\mathrm{\Xi }^{1/4}\omega _\rho ^{3/4},\xi =\sqrt{2}\mathrm{\Xi }^{1/4}.$$
(11)
Renormalization– When the coupling to the continuum of noncondensate atom pairs is included, the continuum shifts the molecular state . As explained before , and will be discussed in more detail below, we have taken the dominant state pushing into account in our calculations. However, there is a relevant residual effect to consider.

To begin with, consider the equation of motion for the molecular amplitude, including the coupling to noncondensate atom pairs but not to the atomic condensate \[set $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$ in Eqs. (Mean-Field Theory of Feshbach-Resonant Interactions in 85Rb Condensates)\]. Again, the particular energy dependence of the coupling comes from the Wigner threshold law, which is here assumed to be valid for all relevant energies; but, as is necessary in the numerical calculations anyway, we cut off the coupling between molecules and atom pairs at some frequency $`ϵ_M`$. The question of renormalization is the question of the dependence of the results on the cutoff $`ϵ_M`$.

Equations (Mean-Field Theory of Feshbach-Resonant Interactions in 85Rb Condensates) (with $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$) are easy to solve using, say, the Fourier transformation. With the initial condition that $`\beta (t=0)=1`$, for positive times the solution has the Fourier transform

$$\beta (\omega )=\frac{i}{\omega +i\eta \delta _0\mathrm{\Sigma }(\omega )},$$
(12)
where the self-energy is

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }(\omega )=\frac{\xi ^2}{2\pi }_0^{ϵ_M}𝑑ϵ\frac{\sqrt{ϵ}}{\omega +i\eta ϵ},$$
(13)
and $`\eta =0^+`$. Now, a real pole of $`\beta (\omega )`$ corresponds to a true stationary state of the Hamiltonian. It turns out that for suitable detunings there is a real pole $`\omega 0`$, which obviously corresponds to the coupling-renormalized energy of the molecules.

Assuming that the value of $`\omega `$ is negative, the integral (13) is carried out easily and the equation giving the pole becomes

$$\omega \left(\delta _0\frac{\sqrt{\mathrm{\Xi }ϵ_M}}{\pi }\right)\frac{2}{\pi }\sqrt{\omega \mathrm{\Xi }}\mathrm{arctan}\left[\frac{\sqrt{ϵ_M}}{\sqrt{\omega }}\right]=0.$$
(14)
The term involving the detuning is the main contribution to the renormalization. As we have done before in our numerical calculations , we choose the bare detuning $`\delta _0`$ so that, for the given energy cutoff $`ϵ_M`$, the renormalized detuning $`\delta _0\sqrt{ϵ_M\mathrm{\Xi }}/\pi `$ attains the desired value. Hereafter we use the symbol $`\delta `$ for the renormalized detuning. This is the parameter that is varied by changing the laser frequency in photoassociation, or the magnetic field in the Feshbach resonance. We carry out the rest of the renormalization by setting $`ϵ_M\mathrm{}`$. We find the equation giving the characteristic frequency corresponding to the molecules as $`\omega \delta \sqrt{\omega \mathrm{\Xi }}=0.`$ The proper solution is

$$\omega =\delta +\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\mathrm{\Xi }}\left(\sqrt{\mathrm{\Xi }4\delta }\sqrt{\mathrm{\Xi }}\right),$$
(15)
which is valid for all negative detunings and gives the characteristic frequency of the molecule. Nevertheless, complete diagonalization of the problem (with $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$) shows that the mode evolving at this frequency is not the original or “bare” molecules, but a coherent superposition of molecules and noncondensate atoms pairs.

Numerical procedures– The mean-field equations (Mean-Field Theory of Feshbach-Resonant Interactions in 85Rb Condensates) are integrated using the norm-preserving predictor-corrector algorithm described in Ref. . Magnetic fields are converted to detunings according to $`\mathrm{}\delta =\mathrm{\Delta }\mu (B_0B)`$, where the position of the Feshbach resonance is $`B_0=154.9\mathrm{G}`$, and where the difference in magnetic moments between bound molecules and free atom pairs, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu 2\mu _B`$ (where $`\mu _B`$ is the Bohr magneton), is borrowed from 87Rb . Compared to the ensuing detunings $`\delta `$, the interactions energies between the atoms due to the background scattering length $`a=23.8\mathrm{nm}`$ are immaterial. We therefore ignore atom-atom interactions unrelated to the Feshbach resonance, as well as the (unknown) atom-molecule and molecule-molecule interactions.

We have used a number of different methods to estimate the parameter $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$, all giving similar values. The present argument goes as follows. One of the experiments in Ref.  gives the characteristic frequency (presumably) of molecules, $`\omega =2.07\times 10^5\mathrm{s}^1`$, at the magnetic field $`B=159.69\mathrm{G}`$ corresponding to the detuning $`\delta =8.42\times 10^7\mathrm{s}^1`$. Solving from Eq. (15), we have $`\mathrm{\Xi }=5.29\times 10^9\mathrm{s}^1`$, and thus $`\xi =381\mathrm{s}^{1/4}`$. It should be noted that, while our rogue-dissociation coupling can be shown to give the correct atom-atom scattering theory close to the resonance ($`\delta 0`$), Eq. (15) will not correctly reproduce the molecular energy on the side of large magnetic fields in Fig. 5 of Ref. . Passable agreement could be reached by treating the energy cutoff $`ϵ_M`$ as a variable finite parameter; unfortunately, the abrupt cutoff at $`ϵ_M`$ introduces physical and numerical artifacts, which need to be cleaned up via a judicious energy dependence of the coupling. For example, the entire experimental range of magnetic fields can be fit by multiplying the original coupling by an exponential \[$`\mathrm{exp}(ϵ/ϵ_M)`$\] or rational \[$`ϵ_M^2/(ϵ+ϵ_M)^2`$\] cutoff. As our aims are strictly qualitative, we discuss these details elsewhere.

Results– We begin with the Cornish et al.  experiments implementing a sweep of the magnetic field across the Feshbach resonance, which is of course a version of the age-old Landau-Zener problem . Although a sweep of the detuning $`\delta `$ from above to below threshold at a rate slow compared to the condensate coupling $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ will move the system adiabatically from all atoms to all molecules, rogue dissociation will overtake coherent atom-molecule conversion when $`\mathrm{\Omega }\stackrel{>}{}\omega _\rho `$ . Nevermind that the JILA experiments sweep from below to above threshold, for a density $`\rho =1\times 10^{12}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ the condensate coupling is $`\mathrm{\Omega }=1.93\times 10^5\text{s}^1250\omega _\rho `$, and so rogue dissociation should seriously dominate. This is indeed the case (see Fig. 1). Apparently, coherent conversion occurs not between atomic and molecular BEC, but between atomic BEC and dissociated atom pairs. Holding this thought, we conclude that mean-field theory indicates rogue dissociation as a primary sink of atoms in the Ref.  sweeps across the Feshbach resonance.

Next we consider the experiments of Claussen et al. , for which nontrivial electromagnetic coil technology was developed to create trapezoidal magnetic field pulses that bring the system near– but not across– resonance, hold for a given amount of time, and return to the original field value. Neglecting the burst, these remnant-focused experiments revealed a contradiction with the conventional understanding of condensate loss: rather than a loss that increased monotonically with increasing interaction time, the results indicated a loss that increased with decreasing interaction time, until very short times were reached. The present mean-field approach works similarly, as shown in Fig. 2. Our interpretation is that adiabaticity is again at play. At very short pulse durations, increasing interaction time leads to increasing condensate loss, as expected. In contrast, as the time dependence of the pulse gets slower, the system eventually follows the pulse adiabatically, and returns close to the initial condensate state when the pulse has passed.

Finally, we turn to the experiments performed by Donley et al. , in which two trapezoidal pulses were applied to a 85Rb condensate, and the fraction of remnant and burst atoms measured for a variable between-pulse time and magnetic-field amplitude. These experiments revealed coherent remnant-burst oscillations with amplitudes of up to $`25`$%. As it happens, we have recently predicted coherent oscillations between atoms and dissociated atom pairs in a rogue-dominated system, although we harbored doubts regarding any practical realization . Casting these doubts aside, we consider a time dependent detuning (magnetic field) in essence lifted from Fig. 2 of Ref.  \[Fig. 3(a)\], and determine the fraction of remnant condensate atoms, noncondensate atoms, and molecules at the end of the pulse sequence as a function of the holding time between the two pulses \[Fig. 3(b)\]. Oscillations are seen with the amplitude of about 15% between condensate and noncondensate atoms at the frequency of the molecular state corresponding to the magnetic field during the holding period. The molecular fraction appears too small to account for the amplitude of the oscillations. In fact, what we termed molecular frequency is the characteristic frequency of a coherent superposition of molecules and noncondensate atom pair. Here the oscillations, directly comparable to Fig. 4(a) in Ref. , are Ramsey fringes  in the evolution between an atomic condensate and a molecular condensate dressed with noncondensate atom pairs.

Although our rogue-dissociation ideas provide a neat qualitative explanation for the three experiments we have discussed , in all fairness it must be noted that we have fallen short of a full quantitative agreement. It appears that our model is missing a so far unidentified additional loss mechanism for the condensate atoms.

Conclusions– We have demonstrated that a minimal mean-field model is sufficient to qualitatively explain a number of puzzling results in Feshbach-resonant systems. On the whole, collapsing-condensate physics is therefore understood as a matter of rogue dissociation, which leads to strong losses in the threshold neighborhood, decreased remnant fraction for decreasing interaction time—until very short times are reached, and coherent remnant-burst oscillations. Furthermore, although atom-molecule coherence has no doubt been achieved , the amplitude of the remnant-burst oscillations need not be indicative of the number of condensate molecules present. Ironically, the strength of the Feshbach resonance has led to a regime dominated by rogue dissociation, which tends to counteract the production of a molecular condensate.

Acknowledgements– We thank Neil Claussen and Eddy Timmermans for helpful discussions, and the Academy of Finland (MM and KAS, projects 43336 and 50314), NSF (JJ, Grants PHY-9801888 and PHY-0097974), and NASA (JJ, Grant NAG8-1428) for support.


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# Stability of 𝑪^∗-algebras associated to graphs

## 1. Introduction

In 1980 Cuntz and Krieger introduced a class of $`C^{}`$-algebras generated by families of partial isometries satisfying relations determined by a finite matrix with entries in $`\{0,1\}`$. These Cuntz-Krieger algebras were initially studied because of their appearance in the study of topological Markov chains. Later it was found that they also have important parallels with certain kinds of dynamical systems (e.g. shifts of finite type).

Since their inception, Cuntz-Krieger algebras have been generalized in an extraordinary number of ways. One generalization whose study has proven particularly fruitful are the $`C^{}`$-algebras associated to directed graphs. In 1982 Watatani noted that one could view the Cuntz-Krieger algebra associated to a finite matrix $`A`$ as the $`C^{}`$-algebra associated to the finite directed graph with adjacency matrix $`A`$ . However, these ideas were not more fully explored until the late 1990’s when Kumjian, Pask, Raeburn, and Renault  introduced $`C^{}`$-algebras associated to locally finite graphs (i.e. possibly infinite graphs in which each vertex emits and receives a finite number of edges). Not long after this it was shown in  that many of the same results also hold for $`C^{}`$-algebras associated to row-finite graphs (i.e. possibly infinite graphs in which every vertex emits finitely many edges) and often the same techniques can be applied to prove these results. In the early 2000’s $`C^{}`$-algebras associated to arbitrary directed graphs were finally considered . Unlike the generalization from locally finite to row-finite graphs, it was found that extending results to $`C^{}`$-algebras of arbitrary graphs often involved significant modifications to statements of theorems as well as the development of new techniques for their proofs.

In this paper we consider the notion of stability for $`C^{}`$-algebras associated to arbitrary directed graphs. Recall that a $`C^{}`$-algebra $`A`$ is said to be stable if $`AA𝒦`$, where $`𝒦`$ denotes the compact operators on a separable infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. Furthermore, if $`A`$ is a $`C^{}`$-algebra then one may form its stabilization $`A𝒦`$. Since $`𝒦𝒦𝒦`$, one has that the stabilization of a $`C^{}`$-algebra is stable.

If $`G`$ is a graph and $`C^{}(G)`$ is its associated $`C^{}`$-algebra, then we prove in Theorem 3.2 that the stability of $`C^{}(G)`$ is equivalent to five other conditions. This theorem generalizes a result of Hjelmborg \[8, Theorem 2.14\] in which a characterization of stability for $`C^{}`$-algebras of locally finite graphs was obtained. Both of these results make use of a nontrivial characterization of stability due to Rørdam and Hjelmborg . However, our proof of Theorem 3.2 will involve techniques significantly different from Hjelmborg’s proof of \[8, Theorem 2.14\]. Furthermore, in addition to applying to $`C^{}`$-algebras of arbitrary graphs, Theorem 3.2 is different from \[8, Theorem 2.14\] in another respect, namely that it includes a characterization in terms of the graph traces on all of $`G`$, rather than on a special subgraph of $`G`$ as in Condition (d) of \[8, Theorem 2.14\].

In Corollary 3.3 we show that there is a particularly nice characterization of stability for $`C^{}(G)`$ when $`G`$ has no sources: If $`G`$ is a graph with no sources, then $`C^{}(G)`$ is stable if and only if every vertex of $`G`$ can be reached by an infinite number of vertices. This gives an easily verifiable condition for determining the stability of the $`C^{}`$-algebra solely in terms of the graph.

Building off this characterization, in §4 we develop a method for realizing the stabilization of a graph algebra and we show that it is also a graph algebra. If $`G`$ is a graph, then we obtain a new graph $`\stackrel{~}{G}`$ by adding a “head”

to each vertex $`v`$ in $`G`$. We prove in Theorem 4.2 that $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})`$ is the stabilization of $`C^{}(G)`$; that is, $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})C^{}(G)𝒦`$. As a corollary we have that the class of graph algebras is closed under stabilization.

## 2. Preliminaries

We provide some basic facts about graph algebras and refer the reader to , , and  for more details. A (directed) graph $`G=(G^0,G^1,r,s)`$ consists of a countable set $`G^0`$ of vertices, a countable set $`G^1`$ of edges, and maps $`r,s:G^1G^0`$ identifying the range and source of each edge. A vertex $`vG^0`$ is called a *sink* if $`|s^1(v)|=0`$, and $`v`$ is called an *infinite emitter* if $`|s^1(v)|=\mathrm{}`$. If $`v`$ is either a sink or an infinite emitter, then we call $`v`$ a *singular vertex*. A graph $`G`$ is said to be *row-finite* if it has no infinite emitters.

If $`G`$ is a graph we define a *Cuntz-Krieger $`G`$-family* to be a set of mutually orthogonal projections $`\{p_v:vG^0\}`$ and a set of partial isometries $`\{s_e:eG^1\}`$ with orthogonal ranges which satisfy the *Cuntz-Krieger relations*:

1. $`s_e^{}s_e=p_{r(e)}`$ for every $`eG^1`$;
2. $`s_es_e^{}p_{s(e)}`$ for every $`eG^1`$;
3. $`p_v=_{s(e)=v}s_es_e^{}`$ for every $`vG^0`$ that is not a singular vertex.

The *graph algebra $`C^{}(G)`$* is defined to be the $`C^{}`$-algebra generated by a universal Cuntz-Krieger $`G`$-family.

A *path* in $`G`$ is a sequence of edges $`\alpha =\alpha _1\alpha _2\mathrm{}\alpha _n`$ with $`r(\alpha _i)=s(\alpha _{i+1})`$ for $`1i<n`$, and we say that $`\alpha `$ has length $`|\alpha |=n`$. We let $`G^n`$ denote the set of all paths of length $`n`$, and we let $`G^{}:=_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}G^n`$ denote the set of finite paths in $`G`$. Note that vertices are considered paths of length zero. The maps $`r,s`$ extend to $`G^{}`$, and for $`v,wG^0`$ we write $`vw`$ if there exists a path $`\alpha G^{}`$ with $`s(\alpha )=v`$ and $`r(\alpha )=w`$. Also for a path $`\alpha :=\alpha _1\mathrm{}\alpha _n`$ we define $`s_\alpha :=s_{\alpha _1}\mathrm{}s_{\alpha _n}`$. It is a consequence of the Cuntz-Krieger relations that $`C^{}(G)=\overline{\text{span}}\{s_\alpha s_\beta ^{}:\alpha ,\beta G^{}\text{ and }r(\alpha )=r(\beta )\}`$.

We say that a path $`\alpha :=\alpha _1\mathrm{}\alpha _n`$ of length $`1`$ or greater is a *loop* if $`r(\alpha )=s(\alpha )`$, and we call the vertex $`s(\alpha )=r(\alpha )`$ the *base point* of the loop. A loop is said to be *simple* if $`s(\alpha _i)s(\alpha _1)`$ for all $`1<in`$. The following is an important condition for graphs to satisfy.

Condition (K): No vertex in $`G`$ is the base point of exactly one simple loop; that is, every vertex is either the base point of no loops or at least two simple loops.

The graph algebra $`C^{}(G)`$ is unital if and only if $`G`$ has a finite number of vertices, cf. \[10, Proposition 1.4\], and in this case $`1_{C^{}(G)}=_{vG^0}p_v`$. If $`G`$ has an infinite number of vertices and we list them as $`G^0=\{v_1,v_2,\mathrm{}\}`$ and define $`p_n:=_{i=1}^np_{v_i}`$, then $`\{p_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ will be an approximate unit for $`C^{}(G)`$.

###### Definition 2.1.

A *trace* on a $`C^{}`$-algebra $`A`$ is a linear functional $`\tau :A`$ with the property that $`\tau (ab)=\tau (ba)`$ for all $`a,bA`$. We say that $`\tau `$ is *positive* if $`\tau (a)0`$ for all $`aA^+`$. If $`\tau `$ is a positive trace and $`\tau =1`$ we call $`\tau `$ a *tracial state*. The set of all tracial states is denoted $`T(A)`$.

###### Definition 2.2.

If $`G`$ is a graph, then a *graph trace* on $`G`$ is a function $`g:G^0^+`$ with the following two properties:

1. For any $`vG^0`$ with $`0<|s^1(v)|<\mathrm{}`$ we have $`g(v)=_{s(e)=v}g(r(e))`$.
2. For any infinite emitter $`vG^0`$ and any finite set of edges $`e_1,\mathrm{},e_ns^1(v)`$ we have $`g(v)_{i=1}^ng(r(e_i))`$.

Because the value of $`g`$ at any vertex is non-negative, it follows that whenever $`v`$ is an infinite emitter the infinite sum $`_{s(e)=v}g(r(e))`$ converges, and moreover $`_{s(e)=v}g(r(e))g(v)`$.

We define the *norm* of $`g`$ to be the (possibly infinite) value $`g:=_{vG^0}g(v)`$. We shall call a graph trace *bounded* if $`g<\mathrm{}`$, and we shall use $`T(G)`$ to denote the set of all graph traces on $`G`$ with norm one. Also note that if $`v,wG^0`$, then $`vw`$ implies $`g(v)g(w)`$.

If $`\tau :C^{}(G)`$ is a tracial state, then $`\tau `$ induces a graph trace $`g_\tau `$ of norm one given by $`g_\tau (v):=\tau (p_v)`$. If $`G`$ satisfies Condition (K), then the map $`\tau g_\tau `$ is a bijection (in fact, an affine homeomorphism) from $`T(C^{}(G))`$ onto $`T(G)`$ \[12, §3\]. There are examples which show that in general this map is not injective.

###### Definition 2.3.

We say that two projections $`p,qA`$ are equivalent, written $`pq`$, if there exists an element $`vA`$ with $`p=vv^{}`$ and $`q=v^{}v`$.

In  Joachim Cuntz introduced a notion of comparison of (positive) elements in a $`C^{}`$-algebra for the purpose of constructing dimension functions and traces on $`C^{}`$-algebras.

###### Definition 2.4 (Cuntz).

Let $`A`$ be a $`C^{}`$-algebra, and let $`a,b`$ be positive elements in $`A`$. We write $`ab`$ if there exists a sequence $`\{x_k\}_{k=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ in $`A`$ with $`x_k^{}bx_ka`$.

If $`p,q`$ are projections in a $`C^{}`$-algebra $`A`$, then $`pq`$ if and only if $`p`$ is equivalent to a subprojection of $`q`$; that is, there exists a partial isometry $`vA`$ such that $`p=vv^{}`$ and $`v^{}vq`$. Thus the above definition agrees with usual definition of comparison of two projections.

If $`eG^1`$ then we see that $`p_{r(e)}=s_es_e^{}`$ and $`s_es_e^{}p_{s(e)}`$. Therefore $`p_{r(e)}p_{s(e)}`$. More generally we see that $`vw`$ implies $`p_wp_v`$.

###### Definition 2.5.

If $`G`$ is a graph, a subset $`HG^0`$ is said to be *hereditary* if for every $`eG^1`$ we have that $`s(e)H`$ implies $`r(e)H`$. A hereditary subset is said to be *saturated* if whenever $`vG^0`$ with $`0<|s^1(v)|<\mathrm{}`$ then $`\{r(e):eG^1\text{ and }s(e)=v\}H`$ implies that $`vH`$. If $`H`$ is a hereditary subset, then the *saturation* of $`H`$ is the smallest saturated hereditary subset $`\overline{H}`$ of $`G^0`$ containing $`H`$.

If $`H`$ is a hereditary subset of $`G^0`$, then we can give an inductive description of the saturation $`\overline{H}`$. We define $`H_0:=H`$ and having defined $`H_n`$ we set

$$H_{n+1}:=H_n\{vG^0:0<|s^1(v)|<\mathrm{}\text{ and }s(e)=v\text{ implies }r(e)H_n\}.$$

Then it is straightforward to show that $`\overline{H}=_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}H_n`$.

###### Definition 2.6.

Given a saturated hereditary subset $`HG^0`$, we define

$$B_H:=\{vG^0:|s^1(v)|=\mathrm{}\text{ and }0<|s^1(v)r^1(G^0H)|<\mathrm{}\}.$$

Since $`H`$ is hereditary, we see that $`B_H`$ is disjoint from $`H`$. If $`\{s_e,p_v\}`$ is a generating Cuntz-Krieger $`G`$-family in $`C^{}(G)`$, then for $`SB_H`$ we define

$$I_{(H,S)}:=\text{ the ideal in }C^{}(G)\text{ generated by }\{p_v:vH\}\{p_v^H:vS\},$$

where

$$p_v^H:=p_v\underset{\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{s(e)=v}{r(e)H}}{}s_es_e^{}.$$

###### Definition 2.7.

If $`H`$ is a saturated hereditary subset of $`G`$ and $`SB_H`$, then we define a graph $`G_{(H,S)}`$ as follows:

$`G_{(H,S)}^0`$ $`:=(G^0\backslash H)\{v^{}:vB_H\backslash S\}`$
$`G_{(H,S)}^1`$ $`:=\{eG^1:r(e)H\}\{e^{}:r(e)B_H\backslash S\}`$
and we extend $`r`$ and $`s`$ to $`G_{(H,S)}^1`$ by $`r(e^{})=r(e)^{}`$ and $`s(e^{})=s(e)`$. It follows from \[1, Corollary 3.5\] that $`C^{}(G)/I_{(H,S)}C^{}(G_{(H,S)})`$.

## 3. Stability of graph $`C^{}`$-algebras

This section is devoted to proving Theorem 3.2, which is a generalization of \[8, Theorem 2.14\].

###### Definition 3.1.

If $`v`$ is a vertex in a graph $`G`$ we define $`L(v):=\{wG^0:wv\}`$. We say that $`v`$ is *left infinite* if $`L(v)`$ contains infinitely many elements, and we say that $`v`$ is *left finite* if $`L(v)`$ contains finitely many elements.

###### Theorem 3.2.

If $`G`$ is a graph, then the following are equivalent.

1. $`C^{}(G)`$ is stable
2. $`C^{}(G)`$ has no nonzero unital quotients and no tracial states
3. Every vertex in $`G`$ that is on a loop is left infinite and $`T(G)=\mathrm{}`$
4. Every vertex in $`G`$ that is on a loop is left infinite and $`G`$ has no nonzero bounded graph traces
5. For every $`vG^0`$ and every finite set $`FG^0`$ there exists a finite set $`WG^0`$ with $`WF=\mathrm{}`$ and $`p_v_{wW}p_w`$.
6. For every finite set $`VG^0`$ there exists a finite set $`WG^0`$ with $`VW=\mathrm{}`$ and $`_{vV}p_v_{wW}p_w`$.

###### Corollary 3.3.

If $`G`$ is a graph and every vertex of $`G`$ is left infinite, then $`C^{}(G)`$ is stable. If $`G`$ has no sources and $`C^{}(G)`$ is stable, then every vertex of $`G`$ is left infinite.

###### Proof.

Suppose every vertex of $`G`$ is left infinite. If $`vG^0`$ and $`FG^0`$ is a finite set, then we may choose an element $`wG^0`$ such that $`wF`$ and $`wv`$. But then $`p_vp_w`$ and by Theorem 3.2(e) $`C^{}(G)`$ is stable.

If $`G`$ has no sources then for every $`vG^0`$ there exists a sequence of edges $`e_1e_2e_3\mathrm{}`$ with $`r(e_{i+1})=s(e_i)`$ and $`r(e_1)=v`$. If the elements of $`\{s(e_i)\}_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ are distinct, then $`v`$ is left infinite. If the elements of $`\{s(e_i)\}_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ are not distinct, then there exists a loop that can reach $`v`$. If $`C^{}(G)`$ is stable, then by Theorem 3.2(c) all vertices on loops are left infinite. Hence $`v`$ is also left infinite. ∎

We cannot remove the condition of no sources in the converse of the above corollary. If $`G`$ is the graph

then no vertex of $`G`$ is left infinite, but $`C^{}(G)𝒦`$ is stable.

###### Remark 3.4.

The equivalence of Conditions (a), (b), and (f) in Theorem 3.2 was established for locally finite graphs in \[8, Theorem 2.14\]. We mention that Condition (c) of Theorem 3.2 is often easier to verify than Condition (b). This is because graph traces are typically easier to deal with than tracial states, and it is often easy to deduce whether $`T(G)`$ is empty simply by looking at $`G`$. Furthermore, we point out that the tracial states of $`C^{}(G)`$ and the graph traces on $`G`$ of norm one are not generally in one-to-one correspondence (see \[12, §3\]).

###### Remark 3.5.

We see from Theorem 3.2 that a graph $`C^{}`$-algebra is stable if and only if it has no nonzero unital quotients and no tracial states. It is always the case that any stable $`C^{}`$-algebra will have no nonzero unital quotients and no tracial states, but in general the converse does not hold. (Interestingly, it is shown in \[9, Proposition 5.1\] that the converse will hold if certain full hereditary subalgebras of the $`C^{}`$-algebra satisfy a particular property.)

###### Lemma 3.6.

Let $`A`$ be a $`C^{}`$-algebra with an increasing countable approximate unit $`\{p_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ consisting of projections. Then the following are equivalent.

1. $`A`$ is stable.
2. For every projection $`pA`$ there exists a projection $`qA`$ such that $`pq`$ and $`pq`$.
3. For all $`n`$ there exists $`m>n`$ such that $`p_np_mp_n`$

###### Proof.

The equivalence of (i) and (ii) is shown in \[9, Theorem 3.3\]. The equivalence of (ii) and (iii) is shown in \[8, Lemma 2.1\]. ∎

###### Lemma 3.7.

If $`G`$ is a graph and $`g:G^0^+`$ is a graph trace on $`G`$, then

$$H:=\{vG^0:g(v)=0\}$$

is a saturated hereditary subset.

###### Proof.

If $`eG^1`$, then $`g(s(e))g(r(e))`$. Thus $`s(e)H`$ implies that $`r(e)H`$, and $`H`$ is hereditary. If $`vG^0`$ is not a singular vertex and $`\{r(e):eG^1\text{ and }s(e)=v\}H`$, then $`g(v)=_{s(e)=v}g(r(e))=0`$ so $`vH`$, and $`H`$ is saturated. ∎

###### Lemma 3.8.

Let $`G`$ be a graph, let $`H`$ be a saturated hereditary subset of $`G^0`$, and let $`\pi :C^{}(G)C^{}(G)/I_{(H,\mathrm{})}`$ be the projection map. If $`p`$ is a projection in $`C^{}(G)`$, $`WG^0\backslash H`$ is a finite set, and $`\pi (p)_{wW}\pi (p_w)`$ in $`C^{}(G)/I_{(H,\mathrm{})}`$, then there exists a finite set $`XH`$ such that $`p_{wW}p_w+_{xX}p_x`$ in $`C^{}(G)`$.

###### Proof.

Write $`H=\{v_1,v_2,\mathrm{}\}`$. If we let $`p_n:=_{i=1}^np_{v_i}`$, then $`I_{(H,\mathrm{})}`$ is generated by $`𝒫=\{p_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ and \[8, Lemma 2.6\] implies that $`p_{wW}p_w+p_n`$ for some $`n`$. ∎

*Proof of Theorem 3.2.* (a) $``$ (b) : It is shown in \[9, Proposition 5.1\] that stable $`C^{}`$-algebras have no nonzero unital quotients and admit no nonzero traces.

(b) $``$ (c) : We shall first show that every vertex on a loop is left infinite. Let $`\alpha `$ be a loop in $`G`$ that is based at $`v`$. Then $`H:=G^0\backslash L(s(\alpha ))`$ is a saturated hereditary subset. By hypothesis $`C^{}(G)/I_{(H,B_H)}G_{(H,B_H)}`$ is nonunital and hence $`G_{(H,B_H)}^0=G^0\backslash H=L(s(\alpha ))`$ is infinite. Thus $`s(\alpha )=v`$ is left infinite.

Now we shall show that $`T(G)`$ is empty by supposing that there exists $`gT(G)`$ and arriving at a contradiction. Let us begin by showing that if $`v`$ is a vertex on a loop, then $`g(v)=0`$. From the previous paragraph every vertex on a loop is left infinite. Since

$$g=\underset{wG^0}{}g(w)\underset{wL(v)}{}g(w)$$

and since $`wv`$ implies $`g(w)g(v)`$ the only way that this infinite sum can be finite is if $`g(v)=0`$. Thus $`g`$ vanishes on every vertex that is on a loop.

If we now let $`H:=\{vG^0:g(v)=0\}`$ then it follows from Lemma 3.7 that $`H`$ is a saturated hereditary subset. We define a graph trace $`\stackrel{~}{g}`$ on $`G_{(H,\mathrm{})}`$ by

$$\stackrel{~}{g}(w):=\{\begin{array}{cc}g(w)\hfill & \text{ if }w(G^0\backslash H)\backslash B_H\hfill \\ & \\ \underset{\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{s(e)=w}{r(e)H}}{}g(r(e))\hfill & \text{ if }wB_H\hfill \\ g(v)\underset{\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{s(e)=v}{r(e)H}}{}g(r(e))\hfill & \text{ if }w=v^{}\text{ for some }vB_H\text{.}\hfill \end{array}$$

It is straightforward to verify that $`\stackrel{~}{g}`$ is a graph trace on $`G_{(H,\mathrm{})}`$ and that $`\stackrel{~}{g}=g=1`$. Now it follows from the previous paragraph that there are no loops in $`G`$ with vertices in $`G^0\backslash H`$. Hence $`G_{(H,\mathrm{})}`$ is a graph with no loops. Therefore \[12, §3.3\] implies that there exists a tracial state $`\tau `$ on $`C^{}(G_{(H,\mathrm{})})`$. Since $`C^{}(G)/I_{(H,\mathrm{})}C^{}(G_{(H,\mathrm{})})`$ it follows that $`\tau `$ lifts to a tracial state on $`C^{}(G)`$. But this contradicts the fact that $`C^{}(G)`$ has no tracial states.

(c) $``$ (d) : If $`g`$ was a nonzero bounded graph trace on $`G`$, then we could normalize to get an element $`\frac{1}{g}gT(G)`$.

(d) $``$ (e) : Choose a vertex $`vG^0`$. Define $`H:=\{wG^0:\text{ }w\text{ is left infinite}\}`$. Then $`H`$ is a hereditary subset, and we let $`\overline{H}`$ denote the saturation of $`H`$. Consider the following two cases:

Case I: $`v\overline{H}`$. Define $`H_0:=H`$ and for each $`n`$ set

$$H_{n+1}:=H_n\{wG^0:0<|s^1(w)|<\mathrm{}\text{ and }s(e)=w\text{ implies }r(e)H_n\}.$$

Then we see that $`\overline{H}=_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}H_n`$. We shall prove that the claim holds whenever $`v\overline{H}`$ by induction on $`k:=\mathrm{min}\{n:vH_n\}`$. In the base case we have $`k=0`$ and thus $`vH`$. Since every vertex in $`H`$ is left infinite for every finite set $`FG^0`$ there exists $`wG^0`$ such that $`wF`$ and $`wv`$. But then $`p_vp_w`$ and the claim holds. Now assume that the claim holds whenever $`v`$ is in $`\overline{H}`$ with $`\mathrm{min}\{n:vH_n\}`$ strictly less than a fixed $`k`$. Suppose that $`vH_k`$. Then $`s^1(v)`$ consists of a finite and nonzero number of edges $`\{e_1,\mathrm{},e_n\}`$ with $`r(e_i)H_{k1}`$ for all $`i`$. By the induction hypothesis there exists a finite set $`W_1G^0`$ such that $`W_1F=\mathrm{}`$ and $`p_{r(e_1)}_{wW_1}p_w`$. Similarly for each $`1<in`$ there exists a finite set $`W_iG^0`$ which is disjoint from $`FW_1\mathrm{}W_{i1}`$ and with $`p_{r(e_i)}_{wW_i}p_w`$. Now if we let $`x=s_{e_1}+\mathrm{}+s_{e_n}`$ then we see that $`x^{}(_{i=1}^ns_{e_i}s_{e_i}^{})x=_{i=1}^np_{r(e_i)}`$, and thus $`_{i=1}^ns_{e_i}s_{e_i}^{}_{i=1}^np_{r(e_i)}`$. Therefore if we let $`W:=W_1\mathrm{}W_n`$ we see that $`WF=\mathrm{}`$ and $`p_v=_{i=1}^ns_{e_i}s_{e_i}^{}_{i=1}^np_{r(e_i)}_{wW_1}p_w+\mathrm{}_{wW_n}p_w=_{wW}p_w`$.

Case II: $`v\overline{H}`$. Since every vertex on a loop is left infinite, it follows that no vertices of $`G^0\backslash \overline{H}`$ are on loops. Thus $`G_{(\overline{H},\mathrm{})}`$ contains no loops and \[6, Corollary 2.13\] implies that $`C^{}(G_{(\overline{H},\mathrm{})})`$ is an AF-algebra. Furthermore, there are no tracial states on $`C^{}(G_{(\overline{H},\mathrm{})})C^{}(G)/I_{(\overline{H},\mathrm{})}`$ since any tracial state would lift to a tracial state on $`C^{}(G)`$ and thus induce a graph trace of norm one on $`G`$. Since $`C^{}(G_{(\overline{H},\mathrm{})})`$ is an AF-algebra with no tracial states it follows from \[3, Theorem 4.10\] that it is stable.

If we list the vertices of $`G^0\backslash \overline{H}`$ as $`\{w_1,w_2,\mathrm{}\}`$ with $`w_1=v`$, then the elements $`p_n:=_{i=1}^n\pi (p_{w_i})`$ form an increasing approximate unit for $`C^{}(G_{(\overline{H},\mathrm{})})`$ consisting of projections. If $`FG^0`$ is a finite set, let $`n=\mathrm{max}\{i:w_iF\}`$. Since $`C^{}(G_{(H,\mathrm{})})`$ is stable, Lemma 3.6(c) implies that there exists $`m>n`$ such that $`p_np_mp_n`$. But if we let $`W_0:=\{w_{n+1},\mathrm{},w_m\}`$ then $`W_0F=\mathrm{}`$ and $`\pi (p_v)p_np_mp_n=_{wW_0}\pi (p_w)`$. It then follows from Lemma 3.8 that there exists a finite set $`X\overline{H}`$ for which $`p_v_{wW}p_w+_{xX}p_x`$ in $`C^{}(G)`$. Now since $`X\overline{H}`$ we see from Case I above that if $`X=\{x_1,\mathrm{},x_n\}`$ then for each $`i`$ we may choose $`W_i`$ such that $`W_i`$ is disjoint from $`FW_0\mathrm{}W_{i1}`$ and $`p_{x_i}_{wW_i}p_w`$. If we let $`W:=W_0\mathrm{}W_n`$, then $`WF=\mathrm{}`$ and $`p_v_{wW_0}p_w+_{xX}p_x_{wW_0}p_w+\mathrm{}+_{wW_n}p_w=_{wW}p_w`$.

(e) $``$ (f) : List the elements of $`V`$ as $`V=\{v_1,\mathrm{}v_n\}`$. Choose $`W_1`$ such that $`W_1V=\mathrm{}`$ and $`p_{v_1}_{wW_1}p_w`$. Having chosen $`W_k`$ we may choose $`W_{k+1}`$ so that $`W_{k+1}`$ is disjoint from $`VW_1\mathrm{}W_k`$ and $`p_{v_k}_{wW_k}p_w`$. We continue in this fashion until we produce $`n`$ sets $`W_1,\mathrm{},W_n`$ with these properties. If we let $`W:=W_1\mathrm{}W_n`$, then $`VW=\mathrm{}`$ and $`_{vV}p_v_{wW_1}p_w+\mathrm{}+_{wW_n}p_w=_{wW}p_w`$.

(f) $``$ (a) : List the vertices of $`G`$ as $`G^0:=\{v_1,v_2,\mathrm{}\}`$. For each $`n`$ we define $`p_n:=_{i=1}^np_{v_i}`$. Then $`\{p_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is an increasing approximate unit consisting of projections, and by Lemma 3.6 it suffices to prove that for all $`nN`$ there exists $`m>n`$ such that $`p_np_mp_n`$.

Let $`nN`$, and define $`V:=\{v_1,\mathrm{},v_n\}`$. By hypothesis there exists a finite set $`WG^0`$ such that $`VW=\mathrm{}`$ and $`_{vV}p_v_{wW}p_w`$. Let $`m:=\mathrm{max}\{k:v_kW\}`$. Since $`VW=\mathrm{}`$ we see that $`_{wW}p_vp_mp_n`$. Thus $`p_n=_{vV}p_v_{vW}p_vp_mp_n`$.

## 4. The stabilization of a graph $`C^{}`$-algebra

###### Definition 4.1.

If $`G`$ is a graph and $`vG^0`$ is a vertex, then by *adding a head to $`v`$* we mean attaching a graph of the form

Thus we create a new graph $`F`$ from $`G`$ by defining $`F^0:=G^0\{v_1,v_2,\mathrm{}\}`$, $`F^1:=G^1\{e_1,e_2,\mathrm{}\}`$, and extend $`r`$ and $`s`$ to $`F^1`$ by $`r(e_i)=v_{i1}`$ and $`s(e_i)=v_i`$.

The terminology “adding a head” is meant to complement the terminology for the analogous concept of “adding a tail” introduced in \[2, (1.2)\].

###### Theorem 4.2.

If $`G`$ is a graph, let $`\stackrel{~}{G}`$ be the graph obtained by adding a head to each vertex of $`G`$. Then $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})`$ is the stabilization of $`C^{}(G)`$; that is,

$$C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})C^{}(G)𝒦.$$

###### Proof.

Following the proof of \[2, Lemma 1.2\] one can show that $`C^{}(G)`$ is naturally isomorphic to a full corner of $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})`$. Consequently $`C^{}(G)`$ is Morita equivalent to $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})`$, and since Corollary 3.3 implies that $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})`$ is stable we have $`C^{}(G)𝒦C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})𝒦C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})`$. ∎

###### Corollary 4.3.

The class of graph $`C^{}`$-algebras is closed under stabilization.

###### Example 4.4.

If $`G`$ is the graph

then $`\stackrel{~}{G}`$ is the graph

and $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})C^{}(G)𝒦`$.

###### Example 4.5.

If $`G`$ is the following graph with one vertex and infinitely many edges, then $`C^{}(G)𝒪_{\mathrm{}}`$

and $`\stackrel{~}{G}`$ is the graph

so that $`C^{}(\stackrel{~}{G})𝒪_{\mathrm{}}𝒦`$.

###### Remark 4.6.

To obtain the stabilization it is often unnecessary to add a head to every vertex in $`G`$. It suffices to add enough heads to make all vertices left infinite. For example, one could choose to add heads only at the left finite vertices of $`G`$.


text:
# Persistent currents in a circular array of Bose-Einstein condensates

## I Introduction

The existence of flow without dissipation is a signature of superfluidity and superconductivity. This phenomenon has been studied in various condensed-matter systems, most notably in helium and metallic superconductors. The experimental achievement of Bose-Einstein (BEC) condensation in alkali-metal atomic gases BEC  opened the possibility of investigating the superfluid properties of dilute BEC gases trapped in various external potentials generated by magnetic or laser fields. The geometry of the trapping external potentials can be engineered into various shapes: from almost spherically symmetric to highly anisotropic, from double wells to lattices.

We study, in the present paper, the stability of currents for a system of $`M`$ condensates in a topologically restricted configuration, with tunneling allowed only between neighboring condensates. This type of trap can be created, for instance, for not too large $`M`$’s, by using an experimental setup similar to that of the MIT interference experiment int  but with a spatial shape of the blue-detuned laser beam, which would ensure the separation of the gas into three or more pieces. Another possibility involves the use of two-dimensional optical lattices in magnetic traps of the same type as those recently employed to study the superfluid-Mott insulator transition dieter . Overlapping a highly repulsive optical potential (for example, generated by a blue-detuned cylindrical laser beam) in the middle of the magnetic trap results in the creation of a Mexican-hat potential for the atoms already confined in the lattice.

A simple application of the concept of spontaneously broken gauge symmetry to this system has as a consequence the appearance of well-defined phase relations between consecutive condensates and the flow of a circular current around the ring. Nowadays there is a variety of experimental methods for inducing currents into an already formed condensate: tilting the lattice in a gravitational field alot  or accelerating it acc , displacing the enveloping external potential created by magnetic trapping sm , phase imprinting ph , coherent conversion between two hyperfine states (one serving as the pinning potential) primu , or stirring the condensate with a laser beam st .

In this paper we show that, no matter what mechanism is chosen to attempt to generate these circular flow states, some of them are in fact unstable, either dynamically or thermodynamically. The states that are stable and produce persistent currents are identified as those with circulation below a certain critical value, which in general depends on the parameters related to on-site interaction such as density and scattering length, on the tunneling rate, and on the number $`M`$ of condensates. The maximum critical circulation (vorticity) of these states is $`M/4`$.

In the following we will briefly discuss the relevance of our study for the two processes that involve at different points the concept of broken phase symmetry: the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and the non-adiabatic quantum phase transitions.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism kibble  predicts the appearance of topological defects in systems undergoing a rapid quench through a continuous phase transition. For the case of dilute alkali atomic gases it has been already argued that during a fast quench vortex lines will be formed ang . It is likely however that a Kibble-Zurek experiment with atomic gases will not be realized in the way originally imagined, but rather by crafting traps simulating a closed array of condensates which can tunnel from one site to another, in a way similar to the experiments done using Josephson junctions raz . This is precisely the system analyzed in this paper. A fast evaporative cooling of a gas of bosons in this type of trap would result in the formation of domains with broken phase symmetry in the wells of the potential (due to higher particle densities). The overlap of the order parameters leads to transfer of atoms between neighboring wells. But in the end, the probabilities assigned to different outcome states by any microscopic analysis (time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau GL, kinetic theory, etc.) of the non-equilibrium problem have to be supplemented with the constrain that only the stable currents will survive - indeed, as shown in this paper, modes that otherwise would pass unsuppressed into the order parameter can decay by the emission of quasiparticles.

A similar conclusion can be drawn for the second process mentioned above, namely quantum phase transitions. The superfluid - Mott insulator transition has been achieved and studied experimentally intensively in recent times in two-dimensional optical lattices dieter ; the same ideas can be applied for an array of the type described in this paper. In this case crossing the quantum critical point results in a coherent superposition of states with different circulations j . The mechanism that breaks the phase symmetry is then any decoherence process: a measurement, particle losses, etc. But, roughly, as shown below, only half of the macroscopically occupied states that result in this way will be persistent currents.

## II A simple model

Let us consider a simple model that captures the essential stability features of a macroscopically occupied mode in the topologically constrained configuration described above.

We consider $`M`$ identical small condensates in contact with each other and a cylindrical system of coordinates $`(r,\theta ,z)`$. The total number of atoms is $`N`$. The centers of the condensates are positioned at $`\stackrel{}{R}_\lambda =(R,\theta _\lambda ,z=0)`$, where $`\theta _\lambda =2\pi \lambda /M`$ and $`\lambda `$ runs from $`0`$ to $`M1`$.

The Hamiltonian of the system is

$$H=𝑑\stackrel{}{r}\widehat{\psi }^{}(\stackrel{}{r})\left[\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\mathrm{\Delta }+V(\stackrel{}{r})+\frac{g}{2}\widehat{\psi }(\stackrel{}{r})^{}\widehat{\psi }(\stackrel{}{r})\right]\widehat{\psi }(\stackrel{}{r}),$$
(1)
where $`g=4\pi \mathrm{}^2/m`$ and $`a`$ is the scattering length.

The external potential $`V(\stackrel{}{r})`$ is crafted to be high enough around the origin, so that the atoms cannot penetrate there; it also has a number of $`M`$ minima at $`(R,\theta _\lambda )`$, around which the condensed atoms tend to localize. The delocalization effect comes from the possibility of tunneling between nearby wells. We also assume that each condensate has a small enough number of particles so that they are not in the Thomas-Fermi regime (for wells of dimension $`1\mu `$m and the scattering length of Na or Rb, the number of particles in each condensate can be at most in the hundreds). In this situation, the wavefunctions of each condensate depend weakly on the number of atoms in the well milburncorney , and one can apply a $`M`$-mode approximation for the field operator

$$\widehat{\psi }(\stackrel{}{r})=\underset{\lambda =0}{\overset{M1}{}}\varphi (\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{R}_\lambda )\widehat{a}(\lambda ),$$
(2)
where $`\varphi `$ is a solution of the Schrödinger equation for each well; the Hamiltonian (1) takes the Bose-Hubbard form

$`H`$ $`=`$ $`t{\displaystyle \underset{\lambda =0}{\overset{M1}{}}}\left[\widehat{a}^{}(\lambda )\widehat{a}(\lambda +1)+\widehat{a}^{}(\lambda +1)\widehat{a}(\lambda )\right]`$ (3)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{w}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{\lambda =0}{\overset{M1}{}}}\widehat{a}^{}(\lambda )\widehat{a}^{}(\lambda )\widehat{a}(\lambda )\widehat{a}(\lambda ).`$
Here the constant terms are omitted; the tunneling matrix element is given by

$$t=𝑑\stackrel{}{r}\varphi ^{}(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{R}_\lambda )\left[\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{m}\mathrm{\Delta }V(\stackrel{}{r})\right]\varphi (\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{R}_{\lambda +1}),$$
(4)
and the on-site energy is

$$w=g𝑑\stackrel{}{r}|\varphi (\stackrel{}{r})|^4.$$
(5)
The boundary conditions are periodic by construction, $`\widehat{a}(\lambda )=\widehat{a}(\lambda +M)`$. The $`M`$-mode approximation and the relation (2) can be seen also as an expansion of the field operator in the Wannier basis or a tight-binding approximation.

The Hamiltonian (3) can be diagonalized in the Bogoliubov formalism. We start first with identifying the solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This can be done by seeing the $`\widehat{a}`$’s as field operators and $`\lambda `$ as a discrete coordinate. Then the first term of the Hamiltonian (3) is the equivalent of the kinetic energy and the second term is the interaction energy. To find the Gross-Pitaevskii state we expand the field operator into M modes

$$\widehat{a}(\lambda )=\underset{k}{}\chi _k(\lambda )\widehat{b}_k,$$
(6)
where the modes $`\chi _k(\lambda )`$ are periodic $`\chi _k(\lambda )=\chi _k(\lambda +M)`$, and $`k`$ takes $`M`$ positive and negative integer values in the interval $`(M/2,M/2]`$. We minimize the mean-field energy on a state $`(N!)^{1/2}b_q^N|0`$ with the restriction that the total number of particles is constant

$$\frac{\delta }{\delta \chi }\left[H\mu \underset{\lambda =0}{\overset{M}{}}\widehat{a}^{}(\lambda )\widehat{a}(\lambda )\right]=0.$$
(7)
This gives the one-dimensional lattice Gross-Pitaevskii equation

$$t\left[\chi _q(\lambda +1)+\chi _q(\lambda 1)\right]+Nw|\chi _q(\lambda )|^2\chi _q(\lambda )=\mu \chi _q(\lambda ).$$
(8)
The analogy with the usual continuous Gross-Pitaevskii equation is even more transparent if one notices that if $`\chi (\lambda )`$ does not vary much from site to site, one can define

$$\frac{d^2}{d\lambda ^2}\chi (\lambda )\chi (\lambda +1)+\chi (\lambda 1)2\chi (\lambda ).$$
(9)
We can also write the Hamiltonian (3) in the momentum basis, defined by

$`\widehat{b}_k`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\lambda =0}{\overset{M1}{}}}e^{i(2\pi /M)k\lambda }\widehat{a}(\lambda ),`$ (10)
$`\widehat{b}_k^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\lambda =0}{\overset{M1}{}}}e^{i(2\pi /M)k\lambda }\widehat{a}^{}(\lambda ).`$ (11)
The result is, with the indices $`k`$, $`k^{}`$, and $`l`$ taking all integer values in the interval $`(M/2,M/2]`$,

$`H=2t{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}\mathrm{cos}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{M}}k\right)\widehat{b}_k^{}\widehat{b}_k+{\displaystyle \frac{w}{2M}}{\displaystyle \underset{k,k^{},l}{}}\widehat{b}_{k+l}^{}\widehat{b}_{k^{}l}^{}\widehat{b}_k^{}\widehat{b}_k,`$
which is formally the Hamiltonian for a uniform system of free bosons with kinetic energy $`2t\mathrm{cos}\left(2\pi k/M\right)`$ instead of the usual $`\mathrm{}^2k^2/2m`$.

Equation (8) has solutions

$`\chi _q(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}}e^{i(2\pi /M)q\lambda },`$ (12)
$`\mu _q`$ $`=`$ $`2t\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{M}}q+{\displaystyle \frac{N}{2M}}w,`$ (13)
which is precisely a circular current state with circulation quantized by $`q`$.

In obtaining the Gross-Pitaevskii equation we have assumed that there is already a phase relation established between the $`M`$ condensates, in other words the state is superfluid and not fragmented (Mott insulator) dieter . The coherence between adjacent sites is achieved when $`wtN/M`$, which corresponds to fluctuations in the relative phase between neighboring sites much smaller than 1 (see the Appendix). If this condition is satisfied, we can distinguish two limits, depending on how the kinetic energy per particle and the interaction energy per particle compare to each other: $`twN/M`$ defines the Rabi regime, and $`twN/M`$ defines the Josephson regime. These limits were initially introduced in connection with the two-well problem leggett , where they have been shown to correspond to number-phase coherent and squeezed ground states but their generalization to lattices is straightforward (see alot ; javanainen  and the Appendix). Experimentally, achieving the Rabi regime and at the same time preserving the validity of the tight-binding approximation can be done by tuning the scattering length in a magnetic field (Feshbach resonance) rather than decreasing the depth of the potential wells.

Let us now turn to the problem of the excitation spectrum. To derive the Bogoliubov - de Gennes equations we start with the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation and linearize it for small fluctuations of the order parameter around the macroscopically occupied mode. We obtain

$`E_ku_k(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`t\left[u_k(\lambda +1)+u_k(\lambda 1)\right]+\left[\mu _q+2Nw|\chi _q(\lambda )|^2\right]u_k(\lambda )+Nw\chi _q^2(\lambda )v_k(\lambda ),`$ (14)
$`E_kv_k(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`t\left[v_k(\lambda +1)+v_k(\lambda 1)\right]+\left[\mu _q+2Nw|\chi _q(\lambda )|^2\right]v_k(\lambda )+Nw\chi _q^2(\lambda )u_k(\lambda ).`$ (15)
The solution of this system is found as

$`u_k(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}}e^{i(2\pi /M)(k+q)}u_k,`$ (16)
$`v_k(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}}e^{i(2\pi /M)(kq)}v_k,`$ (17)
with normalization $`|u_k|^2|v_k|^2=1`$; the corresponding equations for $`u_k`$ and $`v_k`$ become

$`\left[2t\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{M}}(k+q)+2t\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{M}}q+{\displaystyle \frac{N}{M}}w\right]u_k`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{N}{M}}wv_k=E_ku_k,`$ (18)
$`\left[2t\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{M}}(kq)2t\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{M}}q{\displaystyle \frac{N}{M}}w\right]v_k`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{N}{M}}wu_k=E_kv_k.`$ (19)
Solving this system gives

$$E_k^{(\pm )}=2t\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}k\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}q\pm \sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)},$$
(20)
where we have used the notation

$$ϵ_k=2t\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}q\left(1\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}k\right).$$
(21)
Replacing the solution for $`E_k`$ in Eqs. (18,19) we obtain

$$\left[ϵ_k\sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)}+\frac{N}{M}w\right]u_k^{(\pm )}=\frac{N}{M}wv_k^{(\pm )},$$
(22)
$$\left[ϵ_k\pm \sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)}+\frac{N}{M}w\right]v_k^{(\pm )}=\frac{N}{M}wu_k^{(\pm )},$$
(23)
with the restriction imposed by the normalization condition $`|u_k|^2|v_k|^2=1`$ which eventually will force us to make a choice between the two possible solutions indexed by $`(\pm )`$. An interesting observation concerns the negative-energy eigenstates; assuming that we found a positive eigenenergy $`E_k^{(\pm )}`$ with eigenvalues $`\left(\begin{array}{c}u_k^{(\pm )}(\lambda )\\ v_k^{(\pm )}(\lambda )\end{array}\right)`$, the corresponding negative-energy eigenstate is $`E_k^{(\pm )}`$ with eigenvalues $`\left(\begin{array}{c}v_k^{(\pm )}(\lambda )\\ u_k^{(\pm )}(\lambda )\end{array}\right)`$. But $`E_k^{(\pm )}=E_k^{()}`$ and

$$\left(\begin{array}{c}v_k^{(\pm )}(\lambda )\\ u_k^{(\pm )}(\lambda )\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c}\frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}e^{i\frac{2\pi }{M}(kq)}v_k^{(\pm )}\\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{M}}e^{i\frac{2\pi }{M}(k+q)}u_k^{(\pm )}\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c}u_k^{()}(\lambda )\\ v_k^{()}(\lambda )\end{array}\right),$$

where we have used $`u_k^{(\pm )}=v_k^{()}`$ and $`v_k^{(\pm )}=u_k^{()}`$; these last two relations can be proved readily from Eqs. (18) and (19). They show that if, say, $`(+)`$ for a certain $`k`$ is a positive-energy eigenstate, then its corresponding negative-energy eigenstate is a positive-energy eigenstate of $`()`$ for $`k`$. In other words, the state with $`E_k^{()}`$ represents the “antiparticle” (in the spirit of Dirac’s theory) of the state with $`E_k^{(+)}`$.

## III Stability analysis

The stability of the states can be checked out by considering small perturbations of the condensate state - by small alterations of the phase and the number of particles on each site. It is useful to distinguish between two types of stabilities.

### III.1 Dynamical stability

If the eigenvalues $`E_k`$ are complex, then the system is in a dynamically unstable state (or in a point of Lyapunov instability). The reason is that any perturbation will be exponentially magnified - the system tends to go as fast as it can as far as possible from that point. Dynamically stable states are those for which the condition

$$ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)0$$
(24)
is satisfied for any $`k`$. Let us first note that $`\mathrm{cos}2\pi q/M=0`$ does not yield properly normalized solutions, according to Eqs. (22) and (23), so we will exclude from the beginning the states $`q=\pm M/4`$. We distinguish two cases:

1o\] $`ϵ_k>0`$ which is equivalent to $`\mathrm{cos}\left(2\pi q/M\right)>0`$, or $`q`$ is in the interval $`(M/4,M/4)`$.

2o\] $`ϵ_k<0`$ and $`ϵ_k2wN/M`$. Since the minimum value of $`ϵ_k`$ is reached when $`k=\pm 1`$, it follows that

$$\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}q\frac{Nw}{Mt\left(1\mathrm{cos}2\pi /M\right)}.$$
(25)
This inequality implies also $`wN/Mt\left(1\mathrm{cos}2\pi /M\right)`$.

In conclusion, the system is in a dynamically stable state if either condition 1o\] or 2o\] is satisfied. In the Josephson regime, only condition 1o\] can be satisfied, so only the modes from $`M/4`$ to $`M/4`$ are dynamically stable. In the Rabi regime, $`Nw/Mt1`$ so we can distinguish two cases: when $`M`$ is of the order of unity, clearly all the modes are stable; however, when $`M`$ is large, of the order of $`t/Nw`$, there can be dynamically unstable modes located at $`|q|>M/4`$; the relative number of these modes, as a fraction of the total number $`M`$ of modes, is extremely small, since it is limited by $`\sqrt{Nw/Mt}1`$. We conclude that, in the Rabi regime, most of the states are dynamically stable. The dynamically unstable states can be treated in a linearized theory only for periods of time that are logarithmic with respect to the initial state garay , since the quantum fluctuations will trigger an exponentially divergent evolution away from the initial state.

### III.2 Thermodynamical stability

A point of thermodynamical instability (or energetic instability) is a circular flow state which is still not a local minimum of the energy functional; however, small perturbations do not dynamically bring the system far from the initial state in the absence of dissipation. If dissipation is introduced (or, as in our case, if the system suffers thermalization by collisions), the system will not stay arbitrarily close to the initial state but instead decay to a thermodynamically stable state. The name ”thermodynamical instability” is thus justified by the fact that such a state cannot be in thermodynamic equilibrium. The thermodynamically unstable states have a real excitation spectrum which is characterized by the existence of eigenenergies with negative $`E_k`$ (with the normalization corresponding to positive eigenstates, $`|u_k|^2|v_k|^2=1`$), and are known to produce interesting effects in optical lattices niu . For vortices in harmonic traps they are responsible for the precession of the vortex core around the condensate axis doilea . This occurs because the system in a thermodynamically unstable vortex state can reduce its energy by transferring particles from the condensate to the negative-energy modes; for an un-pinned vortex for example this happens by few-particle excitations to the core mode rokhsar . Let us now study the case of thermodynamical stability in situations 1o\] and 2o\] described above.

1o\] $`\mathrm{cos}2\pi q/M>0`$. In this case only $`E_k^{(+)}`$ is a valid solution. Indeed, from Eq. (22), the condition $`|u_k|>|v_k|`$ can be satisfied if

$$\left|ϵ_k\sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)}+\frac{N}{M}w\right|<\frac{N}{M}w,$$
(26)
and clearly the solution with the lower sign cannot satisfy it.

Let us show that the upper sign solution always satisfies this inequality. If the expression under the modulus in Eq. (26) is positive, the inequality is fulfilled trivially. If it is negative, it becomes $`ϵ_k\sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+2wN/M\right)}>2wN/M,`$ or in another form $`ϵ_k/\left[ϵ_k\sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+2wN/M\right)}\right]<1,`$ which is satisfied for any values of the parameters.

The values of the Bogoliubov amplitudes $`u_k`$ and $`v_k`$ are obtained from Eq. (22) as

$`v_k`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{ϵ_k+2wN/M}\sqrt{ϵ_k}}{2\left[ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+2wN/M\right)\right]^{1/4}}}`$ (27)
$`u_k`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{ϵ_k+2wN/M}+\sqrt{ϵ_k}}{2\left[ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+2wN/M\right)\right]^{1/4}}}`$ (28)
We now have to impose the condition of thermodynamical stability: $`E_k^{(+)}0`$ for any $`k`$. This condition is certainly satisfied when $`2\pi k/M`$ is in the first and second quadrants, but not necessarily when $`\mathrm{sin}2\pi k/M<0`$. Enforcing $`E_k^{(+)}0`$ for $`k<0`$ yields

$$t\left[1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}k2\mathrm{cos}^2\frac{2\pi }{M}q\right]\frac{N}{M}w\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}q.$$
(29)
The maximum of the left hand side (LHS) is achieved when $`k=1`$. With some algebraic manipulations the constraint can be put in the form

$$2t\mathrm{sin}\frac{\pi }{M}(2q1)\mathrm{sin}\frac{\pi }{M}(2q+1)\frac{N}{M}w\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}q.$$
(30)
If this condition is satisfied we have a so-called persistent current flowing in our geometry - this current does not decay in time (say by thermal fluctuations) to a lower energy state. As it should be, the ground state (obtained for $`q=0`$) trivially satisfies this inequality since in this case the LHS turns negative. The thermodynamically stable states with $`q0`$ are local minima of the energy functional; in their case, it costs energy to create excitations. We expect persistent currents to be those that will form via symmetry-breaking mechanisms, and survive enough to be finally detected.

2o\] There are no persistent currents in this case, as one can readily check. Indeed, this time $`ϵ_k2wN/M`$, and in order to have $`|u_k|^2>|v_k|^2`$, we need to impose, from (22), the condition

$$0<|ϵ_k|\pm \sqrt{|ϵ_k|\left(|ϵ_k|\frac{2N}{M}w\right)}<\frac{2N}{M}w.$$
(31)
Only the lower sign ensures the validity of these inequalities. The corresponding energy will be then $`E_k^{()}`$,

$$E_k^{()}=2t\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}k\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}q\sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)}.$$
(32)
But now it is obvious that we cannot have $`E_k^{()}0`$ for all $`k`$’s, because if $`q<0`$ then the modes with $`k>0`$ will be thermodynamically unstable, and if $`q>0`$ then the modes with $`k<0`$ will not be stable. Thus, the only case in which we can have thermodynamical stability is case 1o\].

In conclusion, the number of stable states of circular currents depends, in general, on the number of particles $`N`$, on the number of condensates $`M`$, and on the ratio $`t/w`$ (which can be controlled experimentally by varying the barrier potentials between the condensates). The precise form of this dependence is given by the condition $`|q|<M/4`$, combined with Eq. (30). For example, according to Eq. (30) there cannot be stable currents with $`M=3`$ and $`M=4`$, $`M=5,6,7,8`$ give at most two stable circular currents, $`M=9,10,11,12`$ give at most four stable ones, etc.

It is instructive to see what happens in the Rabi regime, defined as $`twN/M`$, and in the Josephson regime, where $`tM/NwtN/M`$. In the Josephson regime it is clear that Eq. (30) is satisfied, so we have both thermodynamical and dynamical stability for $`\mathrm{cos}2\pi q/M>0`$. More interesting is what happens in the Rabi regime. If $`M`$ is of the order of unity clearly Eq. (30) cannot be fulfilled; when $`M`$ becomes of the order of $`2t/Nw`$, there can be stable modes with momenta given by $`2\pi q/M<\sqrt{Nw/2tM+(\pi /M)^2}`$ . They are then a very small fraction of the total number of modes $`M`$ and they lead to small momenta of the circulating fluid. For almost all practical purposes these modes can be assimilated with $`q=0`$ \- in a real experiment they would be difficult to be distinguished from the ground state. The fact that the rest of the modes (with larger $`q`$) in the Rabi regime are thermodynamically unstable can be understood physically in a simple way. For these modes, we can simply put $`w=0`$ and search for solutions with $`u_k=1`$ and $`v_k=0`$. If we look at Eq. (22), it is clear that we need to take the upper sign only into account. The energy in this case is

$$E_k=2t\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}k\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}q+2t\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}q\left(1\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}k\right),$$

which can also be written in the more relevant form

$$E_k=2t\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}q2t\mathrm{cos}\frac{2\pi }{M}(k+q).$$
(33)
This shows that $`E_k`$ is the difference between the phase-twisting energy per particle corresponding to a circulation $`q`$ and the energy of an excitation around the macroscopically occupied mode. In other words, to create an elementary excitation $`k`$ relative to the circulation current, we need to transfer an atom from the condensate to the single-particle state $`k+q`$. This expression is positive for all $`k`$’s only if $`q=0`$ \- so all the flow states are thermodynamically unstable. Instead, we have no dynamical instability. It is interesting to note that it is indeed the interaction that stabilizes in the end the system: a large number of persistent currents cannot exist in its absence. Thus, phase-symmetry breaking mechanisms, for instance, can effectively work only for systems in which there is some extra energy to compensate for the loss of kinetic energy due to phase fluctuations. These results are summarized in Table 1. In the Fock regime ($`wtN/M`$) we cannot write Bogoliubov equations, so our treatment would not be valid.

For thermodynamically stable states (persistent currents) the quasiparticle spectrum obtained,

$$E_k^{(+)}=2t\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}k\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi }{M}q+\sqrt{ϵ_k\left(ϵ_k+\frac{2N}{M}w\right)},$$
(34)
is different from that of the ground state, which can serve as a method to detect a circular flow state others . Also, similar to a phenomenon called the Sagnac effect in relativistic physics, we note that the quasiparticles $`k`$ and $`k`$ propagate with different speeds around the loop, because they are excitations on top of a state with a flow in a certain direction. We have then a condensed-matter equivalent of the Sagnac effect which is related to the lifting of the degeneracy of the excitations $`k`$, $`k`$ due to the rotation of the condensate.

## IV Conclusions

We have obtained the excitation spectrum of a circular flow state in a gas of weakly interacting bosons and analyzed its dynamical and thermodynamical stability. Testing these stability predictions, by changing the tunneling, the interaction, or the number of particles is within the reach of present-day experimental technology.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grant DMR 99-86199 and by the Academy of Finland under the Finnish Centre of Excellence Programme 2000-2005 (Project No. 44875, Nuclear and Condensed Matter Programme at JYFL). The author would like to acknowledge helpful discussions with S. Ashhab, C. Lobo, E. Mueller, G. Baym, A. J. Leggett, and useful comments on the first version of the manuscript from J. Anglin and B. Svistunov.

*

## Appendix A Number fluctuations

We give here a justification of the limits that define the Rabi and Josephson regimes. As in the case of the double well leggett , these are set respectively by the condition of Poissonian or sub-Poissonian fluctuations of the number of atoms in each well.

Let us look now at the ground state of the system. We will use the same notations as throughout the main part of the paper with a superscript $`0`$ to indicate that they are taken at $`q=0`$. Since all sites are equivalent, it is enough to look at one of them, say $`\lambda =0`$. If $`N_0`$ is the number of atoms condensed on the mode $`q=0`$, then $`\widehat{b}_0\sqrt{N_0}`$, and from Eqs. (10,11) one gets

$`\widehat{n}(0)\widehat{a}^{}(0)\widehat{a}(0)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{N_0}{M}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{N_0}}{M}}{\displaystyle \underset{k0}{}}\left(\widehat{b}_k+\widehat{b}_k^{}\right)`$ (35)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{M}}{\displaystyle \underset{k0,k^{}0}{}}\widehat{b}_k^{}\widehat{b}_k^{}.`$
But $`N_0=N_{k0}\widehat{b}_k^{}\widehat{b}_k`$ so ignoring the smallest terms in the expansion the number of particles field operator at $`\lambda =0`$ can be approximated as

$$\widehat{n}(0)\frac{N}{M}+\frac{\sqrt{N}}{M}\underset{k0}{}\left(\widehat{b}_k+\widehat{b}_k^{}\right),$$
(36)
which implies $`n\widehat{n}(0)=N/M`$. In other words, the splitting of the particle number operator at any point in the lattice (the density operator in the limit $`M1`$) into a mean-field value and a fluctuating field of zero average results naturally from the Bogoliubov theory. Now we can calculate the fluctuations on the ground state

$$\sigma _n^2=\widehat{n}^2(0)\widehat{n}(0)^2\frac{N}{M^2}\underset{k0}{}\frac{ϵ_k^0}{E_k^0}.$$
(37)
Here $`ϵ_k^0=4t(\mathrm{sin}\pi k/M)^2`$ and $`E_k^0=\sqrt{ϵ_k^0(ϵ_k^0+2wN/M)}`$. If the “size” $`M`$ of the system is large the sum can be transformed into an integral and calculated analytically. The result is

$$\sigma _n^2\frac{2n}{\pi }\mathrm{arctan}\sqrt{\frac{2t}{nw}},$$
(38)
the same as obtained in Ref. javanainen  for a similar Hamiltonian by using a phonon approach. The parameter that controls the fluctuations of the density (and phase) is then $`t/nw`$; the Rabi regime, with Poissonian fluctuations $`\sigma _n\sqrt{n}`$, is obtained for $`tnw`$, while the Josephson regime, with sub-Poissonian fluctuations $`\sigma _n(8tn/\pi w)^{1/4}\sqrt{n}`$ is obtained in the limit $`tnw`$. The condition $`\sigma _n1`$ (or, equivalently, phase fluctuations much smaller than 1) sets the limit of validity of the Bogoliubov approach: $`tnw`$. In the Josephson regime, the excitation spectrum is $`E_k^0\sqrt{8tnw}\mathrm{sin}\pi k/M`$. In the Rabi regime, $`E_k^0ϵ_k^0`$ for momenta $`2\pi k/M`$ much larger than a critical value $`\sqrt{nw/t}1`$ (that is, for most of the modes available in the system). Below this critical value, if there are modes available (in other words if the minimum momenta allowed by quantization $`2\pi /M`$ is of the order of or less than $`\sqrt{nw/t}1`$), the spectrum is phonon-like, $`E_k^0\sqrt{8tnw}\pi k/M`$. One can regard the Rabi regime as being essentially a noninteracting limit since the fraction of excitation modes that do not have a spectrum as given by simply setting $`w=0`$ is negligible both in the case of $`M1`$ and $`M`$ of the order of unity (when, since $`\sqrt{nw/t}2\pi /M`$, all the modes correspond in fact to a noninteracting spectrum).


text:
# Epidemic threshold in structured scale-free networks

\[

## Abstract

We analyze the spreading of viruses in scale-free networks with high clustering and degree correlations, as found in the Internet graph. For the Suscetible-Infected-Susceptible model of epidemics the prevalence undergoes a phase transition at a finite threshold of the transmission probability. Comparing with the absence of a finite threshold in networks with purely random wiring, our result suggests that high clustering and degree correlations protect scale-free networks against the spreading of viruses. We introduce and verify a quantitative description of the epidemic threshold based on the connectivity of the neighborhoods of the hubs.

\]

The description of the properties of several real networks has manifested that, despite their different nature, they share some common features . They typically show a scale-free distribution of degree, high clustering, and a short average pathlength . Although their topological properties have been studied in detail, a natural question that arises is the dynamical properties that result from the different topologies . An example where the interaction network is crucial for the dynamics is the case of disease spreading. The study of complex networks as models of social, technological and biological interaction has been shown to give valuable insights of how viruses, diseases and rumours spread .

Most of these investigations have been performed assuming networks with homogeneous connectivity, where all individuals have approximately the same number (degree) of contacts with others. The network is typically modeled as a regular lattice, a random graph, or a superposition of these two . For such topologies the number of infected individuals undergoes a phase transition: The single contact transmission probability needs to exceed a critical threshold for a disease to become epidemic . Recently, however, it has been discovered that many networks involved in the spread of diseases have a scale-free distribution of degree with a regime of power law decay. In particular, the web of human sexual contacts , the web of electronic mail communication  and the Internet  all contain highly connected individuals or nodes, so-called hubs, which had been disregarded by the assumption of homogeneous connectivity in previous works. The first model studies of disease spread in scale-free networks including hubs have revealed the absence of an epidemic threshold. Therefore it has been claimed that in technological and sociological networks even viruses with extremely low transmission probability can spread, and any prophylactic strategies aiming at a reduction of the average infectiveness would never result in a total eradication of a prevalent virus. However, the alarming predictions have been obtained assuming random mixing. Apart from the scale-free degree distribution, all non-trivial topological properties of real-world sociological and technological networks have been neglected.

This Letter is dedicated to the analysis of virus spreading in networks with local structure. In order to account for the large clustering coefficient and the presence of degree correlations  we model the potentially infective contacts by highly clustered scale-free networks . We find that the single-contact transmission probability needs to exceed a finite threshold for a virus to spread and prevail. Thus the behavior of epidemics is qualitatively different in highly clustered scale-free networks as compared with randomly wired scale-free networks. We conjecture that the difference can be explained by the presence or absence of connections between the hubs. Based on this conjecture, we define a new quantity, the secondary reproductive number, which predicts the epidemic threshold for highly clustered and randomly wired scale-free networks, as well as for the Internet graph as an example of a real-world scale-free network .

We consider the susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) model, as a simple description of epidemic spreading in a population . Each individual in the population is either infected or susceptible at any point in time. The potential infection pathways are described by interpreting the individuals as the nodes of a network. The time-discrete dynamics is defined by synchroneously updating the states of all individuals with the following rules: If individual $`A`$ is infected at time $`t1`$, it is susceptible at time $`t`$. If, otherwise, individual $`A`$ is susceptible at time $`t1`$ and is connected to at least one individual infected at the same time, then with probability $`\lambda `$ individual $`A`$ is infected at time $`t`$. An important observable is the prevalence $`\rho `$. It is the time average of the fraction of infected individuals reached after a transient from the initial condition. Given a network, the only parameter of the model is the infection probability $`\lambda `$. The information on the global spreading of a disease is contained in the function $`\rho (\lambda )`$.

The individuals are connected by highly clustered scale-free networks . They are constructed by iteratively adding nodes and links in the following way: Generate a new node and connect it with all active nodes. Set the new node active as well. Set inactive one of the active nodes. The probability for deactivating node $`i`$ is inversely proportional to its current number of links $`k_i`$. Close the iteration loop by generating the next new node and so forth, until the network size reaches the desired value $`N`$. Starting from an initial network of $`m`$ fully interconnected active nodes, a network with an average degree $`k=2m`$ links per node is generated. The degree distribution follows a power law $`P(k)=2m^2k^3`$, and the clustering coefficient $`C=5/6`$. Note that the deactivation mechanism mentioned here is part only of the growth mechanism of the network. It is not related to the dynamics of the SIS model which is applied after the network has been constructed.

By extensive simulations we have obtained the prevalence $`\rho (\lambda )`$ for populations of $`N=10^5`$ individuals connected by highly clustered scale-free networks. In Fig. 1 we plot the fraction of infected individuals in the stationary state, $`\rho `$, for different values of the average connectivity. Only when $`\lambda `$ is increased above a value $`\lambda _c`$ a significant prevalence is observed. The effect of the topological properties of the highly clustered scale-free networks becomes clear when comparing the shape of the prevalence curves with those obtained for randomly wired scale-free networks. In the latter case no change of behavior is apparent as the prevalence and its slope vary smoothly when $`\lambda `$ is increased.

Further insight into the behavior of epidemics in highly clustered scale-free networks is gained from the time evolution of the survival probability $`P_s`$ shown in the inset of Fig. 1. Taking initial conditions with exactly one randomly chosen site infected, $`P_s(t)`$ is the fraction of realizations that contain at least one infected site after $`t`$ time steps. For values of $`\lambda `$ well below the threshold $`\lambda _c`$ the disease dies out exponentially whereas for $`\lambda `$ above $`\lambda _c`$ the survival probability $`P_s`$ approaches a non-zero plateau value. The change of behavior from rapid eradication to non-zero prevalence is observed at a finite value of the transmission probability, independent of the system size. Thus the prevalence of the SIS model in highly clustered scale-free networks undergoes a phase transition at a finite critical value $`\lambda _c`$ of the transmission probability. In other words, viruses with a low transmission probability do not prevail in these networks.

In order to understand the role played by the topology we consider the average connectivity of the neighbors of a node $`i`$

$$k_i^{nn}=\frac{1}{k_i}\underset{j𝒱}{}k_j,$$
(1)
where $`k_j`$ is the degree of node $`j`$ and the neighborhood of node $`i`$ (i.e. , the set of nodes directly connected to node $`i`$) is called $`𝒱`$.

The structure of the highly clustered scale-free networks gives rise to correlations between the degree of a node and the degrees of its neighbors (see Fig. 2). For weakly connected nodes, $`k^{nn}`$ decays. For the hubs, $`kk`$, it reaches a constant value

$$k_h^{nn}=k1.$$
(2)
In order to unify the treatment of random and structured networks we also calculate $`k^{nn}`$ for random scale-free networks. If $`P_c(k^{}|k)`$ is the conditional probability that a link belonging to a node with connectivity $`k`$ points to a node with connectivity $`k^{}`$, then

$$k^{nn}=\underset{k^{}}{}k^{}P_c(k^{}|k)=\underset{k^{}}{}\frac{(k^{})^2}{k}P(k^{})=\frac{k^2}{k},$$
(3)
where we have used $`P_c(k^{}|k)k^{}P(k^{})`$ for random networks. Now we specifically consider randomly wired scale-free networks with the degree distribution $`P(k)=2m^2k^3`$, the same distribution as in the highly clustered scale-free networks considered before. The networks are generated using the algorithm introduced in Ref. . Ordering the nodes with respect to decreasing degree, every node is identified by its rank $`i`$. The degree of node $`i`$ is given by

$$k_i(N)=\frac{k}{2}\left(\frac{N}{i}\right)^{0.5}.$$
(4)
Inserting $`k^2=_{i=1}^Nk_i^2(N)=k^2/4\mathrm{ln}N+𝒪(N^1)`$ into Eq. (3) we obtain

$$k^{nn}=\frac{k}{4}\mathrm{ln}N,$$
(5)
independent, on average, of the node under consideration. This independence is confirmed numerically, see Fig. 2. It reflects the absence of correlations in the connectivity. Figure 3 shows the logarithmic dependence of $`k^{nn}`$ on system size, in contrast with the constant value obtained for the hubs in the structured (highly clustered scale-free) networks.

Now the different connectivity of the hubs in the highly clustered and random scale-free networks (both having the same degree distribution) is clear: Whereas in the random case a hub is connected to other highly connected nodes, in the highly clustered networks the hubs are almost exclusively connected to low degree nodes. This difference will result essential for the epidemic dynamics.

But how is this topological property related to the transmission threshold found of the SIS model? Let us define the secondary reproductive number as

$$R_2=\lambda k_h^{nn}.$$
(6)
We show below that the condition $`R_2=1`$ recovers a previous prediction for the epidemic threshold in randomly wired networks networks, and gives a good estimate for the highly clustered scale-free networks and the Internet graph.

Previously, the behavior of the epidemics has been described in terms of the basic reproductive number, $`R_0`$ . It is defined as the average number of secondary infections produced by an infectious individual in a totally susceptible population and indicates whether a disease can ever invade a population. For random networks with broad degree distribution, the basic reproductive number is given by

$$R_0=\lambda \frac{k^2}{k}.$$
(7)
Only if $`R_0`$ is larger than unity the infection prevails. Employing Eq. (3) we find $`R_0=R_2`$, such that in randomly wired networks the basic and secondary reproductive number coincide. Therefore the condition $`R_2=1`$ recovers the standard prediction of the epidemic threshold used in epidemiology, assuming random mixing of the population.

For the highly clustered scale-free networks, applying the condition $`R_2=1`$ and using Eq. 2 predicts a threshold

$$\lambda _c=\frac{1}{(k1)}.$$
(8)
The onset of non-zero prevalence found numerically (Fig. 1) is in good agreement with the prediction. Note that for the highly clustered scale-free networks in general $`R_2R_0`$. In particular, $`R_0`$ diverges with system size $`N`$ as $`\mathrm{ln}N`$ leading to a false prediction of $`\lambda _c=0`$ in the limit of large highly clustered scale-free networks.

In order to check the applicability of the secondary reproductive number to empirical networks we investigate the Internet graph. We simulate the SIS model in the network of the Autonomous Systems at three different time stages of its evolution . Figure 4 shows the prevalence of the SIS model as a function of the transmission probability. The threshold values predicted by the condition $`1=\lambda _ck_h^{nn}`$ give a good estimate of the minimum transmission rate above which the disease spreads. However, using the basic reproductive number instead (Eq. (7)), gives threshold values 0.012, 0.009, 0.007 for years 1997, 1998, 2000, respectively. This understimates the threshold found in the simulations by at least one order of magnitude. Similar to the highly clustered scale-free networks the Internet graph displays considerable degree correlations . The mean connectivity in the neighborhoods of the hubs is much lower than expected for random wiring. This explains the failure of the description by the basic reproductive number which neglects the strong correlations. The secondary reproductive number, however, gives a satisfactory prediction.

We have shown the existence of a finite epidemic threshold in highly clustered scale-free networks in the limit of inifinite system size. Our study has considered for the first time scale-free networks with realistic topological properties as a model for the potentially infective contacts between individuals or nodes. We have conjectured that the value of the threshold is related to the degree correlations in the network, such that the product of the transmission probability $`\lambda `$ and the mean connectivity $`k_h^{nn}`$ of the neighbors of the hubs needs to exceed unity for the epidemic to prevail. This criterion holds precisely for highly clustered scale-free networks. For randomly wired scaele-free networks it coincides with the standard prediction in epidemiology given by the basic reproductive number. The transmission probability required for spreading on the real Internet graph is approximated well by our criterion, whereas the basic reproductive number drastically underestimates the value.

The existence of an epidemic threshold in highly clustered scale-free networks contrasts with the result for randomly wired networks, where arbitrarily weak viruses show finite prevalence. This suggests that the spreading of viruses in networks with scale-free degree distribution may be suppressed by non-random wiring. In particular, degree correlations including the absence of direct connections between highly connected nodes, may provide protection against epidemics.