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# Stable solitons in coupled Ginzburg-Landau equations describing Bose-Einstein condensates and nonlinear optical waveguides and cavities

## 1 Introduction

Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations represent a class of universal mathematical models which describe pattern formation in various nonlinear media . One of the most fundamental types of patterns are solitary pulses (SPs), in loose terms often called solitons. In particular, the simplest generic species of the GL equations, viz., the cubic complex one, gives rise to a well-known exact SP solution . However, this solution is unstable (as the equation includes a linear gain term, which makes the zero solution unstable, precluding stability of any solitary pattern). Therefore, search for physically relevant models of the GL type that give rise to stable pulses has attracted much attention. One possibility is to introduce a cubic-quintic GL equation with linear loss and cubic gain, nonlinear stability being provided by a quintic loss term. Stable SPs in equations of the latter type have been studied in detail . Another model, which finds a straightforward physical realization in terms of dual-core nonlinear optical fibers, was proposed in Ref. . In this system, one core carries linear gain, while the other one is lossy, the corresponding model being based on a system of two linearly coupled cubic GL equations (in fact, the one corresponding to the lossy core may be a linear equation).

Detailed investigations have demonstrated that the latter model supports stable stationary SPs  and their bound states  in broad parametric regions. Stable moving pulses, randomly wandering ones, and breathers (both standing and moving) have also been found in this system . The model was subsequently generalized to combine it with dispersion-management  and wavelength-division-multiplexing (i.e., multi-channel)  schemes, which opens a way for applications to fiber-optic telecommunications. It was also shown that a model of the same type can support stable dark solitons .

In all the cases, the stability of SP solutions in this model was provided by a linear dispersive-loss term, which accounted for the bandwidth-limited character of the gain in the active core (formally, that term is tantamount to diffusion). Without this ingredient, the model can generate only unstable SPs. However, the natural bandwidth of the optical gain (which is usually provided for by the Erbium dopant ) is very broad, therefore the limitation of the gain bandwidth should be enforced by optical filters specially inserted into the system. A related problem is that, in the case of other physical systems which may be described by equations of the GL types, such as optical cavities or planar waveguides and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs, see below), the diffusion term is not physically possible at all.

An alternative way to stabilize SPs is to use a nonlinear dissipative term, which may be cubic or quintic. In the applications to nonlinear optics, a cubic loss term is naturally generated by two-photon absorption, which is a strong effect in semiconductor waveguides and semiconductor-doped glasses (see, e.g., recent works  and , respectively, and references therein). The investigation of this possibility is a subject of the present work. Actually, the system with nonlinear loss and without filtering/diffusion is not just another version of the above-mentioned dual-core fiber-optic model, but it also directly applies to the description of other physical media, namely, nonlinear optical cavities and BECs, as it is explained below.

In normalized units, coupled equations of the type described above can be cast in the form

$`u_t`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma u+i\gamma _2u_{xx}+\left(i\sigma _1\sigma _2\right)|u|^2u+iv,`$ (1)
$`v_t`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\mathrm{\Gamma }+i\chi \right)v+i\gamma _2v_{xx}+iu,`$ (2)
where, in the case of the optical systems, $`u`$ and $`v`$ are amplitudes of electromagnetic waves in two cores of the system, the evolutional variable $`t`$ is either time or propagation distance in the optical cavity (depending on the physical formulation ), or the propagation distance in the dual-core optical fiber, and $`x`$ is the transverse coordinate in the cavity (or in a planar waveguide), or the reduced time in the application to the fibers. Further, the term with $`\gamma >0`$ in Eq. (1) accounts for the gain in the active subsystem, the constant of linear coupling between the cores is normalized to be $`1`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }>0`$ is the dissipative constant in the lossy subsystem, $`\chi `$ is a possible frequency- (if $`t`$ is time) or wavenumber- (if $`t`$ is the propagation distance) mismatch between the cores, and $`\gamma _2`$, which may be assumed positive, is the dispersion/diffraction coefficient (in fact, $`\gamma _2`$ may be given a fixed value by means of obvious rescaling; $`\gamma _2=5`$ will be chosen below, as this value is convenient to display numerical results). Finally, $`\sigma _2`$ and $`\sigma _1`$ are, respectively, coefficients of the Kerr nonlinearity and nonlinear loss in the active core. It is assumed that, in most cases, the field in the lossy core is much weaker than in the active one, therefore nonlinear terms in Eq. (2) may be neglected , although properties of SPs in the system including nonlinear terms in the lossy subsystem are quite similar to those in the system based on Eqs. (1) and (2) . A principal difference of the model based on Eqs. (1) and (2) from the previously considered ones is that the coefficient in front of the term $`iu_{xx}`$ in Eqs. (1) and (2) is real, while the nonlinear coefficient in Eq. (1) is complex; previously, exactly the opposite case was considered .

In the application to BECs, each equation (1) and (2) may be realized as a one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a condensate in a cigar-shaped trap, with the linear coupling induced by tunneling between them (see, e.g., Ref. ). The second derivatives in Eqs. (1) and (2) are then the kinetic-energy terms, with $`\gamma _2=\mathrm{}/2m`$, where $`m`$ is the atomic mass. The linear-loss term in Eq. (2) accounts for evaporation of condensate atoms in the second trap, while the linear gain in Eq. (1) assumes that the corresponding trap is arranged as an atom-wave laser . Further, the coefficient $`\sigma _1`$ in Eq. (1) is proportional to the scattering length of atomic collisions in the BEC gas, and $`\sigma _2>0`$ accounts for effective loss due to two-body collisions .

In fact, in many cases a dominant contribution to the nonlinear loss in BECs is due to three-body collisions , hence the corresponding dissipative term is quintic, and the accordingly modified equation (1) takes the form (again, with $`\sigma _2>0`$)

$$u_t=\gamma u+i\gamma _2u_{xx}+\left(i\sigma _1\sigma _2|u|^2\right)|u|^2u+iv.$$
(3)
Below, we will consider two systems, (1), (2) and (3), (2) with the cubic and quintic nonlinear-loss terms, respectively.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we present analytical results for SPs obtained by means of a perturbation theory. Numerical results are displayed in Section 3, where a parametric region for the existence of stable SPs is identified. In Section 4, we consider moving solitons, demonstrating that they collide elastically with each other. We also consider a generalization of the model including an $`x`$-dependent potential, which is relevant for BECs, and may be relevant for the case of optical planar waveguides too. In that case, we find that moving SPs can coherently tunnel (many times) through a potential barrier. The paper is concluded by Section 5.

## 2 Analytical results

Following the lines of Ref. , it is possible to develop analysis of SP solutions, considering them as weakly perturbed nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) solitons. The linear coupling between the two equations, as well as the gain and loss terms, are treated as perturbations, which are ordered so that the conservative one, i.e., the linear coupling, is assumed to be a larger perturbation, while the nonconservative terms are assumed to be a smaller perturbation. Thus, in the lowest-order approximation, that ignores the loss and gain but takes the coupling into regard at the first order of the perturbation theory, the SP has the form

$$u=\frac{\eta }{\sqrt{\sigma _1}}\mathrm{sech}\left(\frac{\eta x}{\sqrt{2\gamma _2}}\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{i}{2}\eta ^2t\right),v=V(x)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{i}{2}\eta ^2t\right),$$
(4)
where it is assumed that $`\sigma _1`$ is positive, $`\eta `$ is an arbitrary real constant, which is an intrinsic parameter of the soliton family, and the real function $`V(x)`$ is a solution to the linear inhomogeneous equation,

$$\gamma _2\frac{d^2V}{dx^2}\left(\frac{1}{2}\eta ^2+\chi \right)V=\frac{\eta }{\sqrt{\sigma _1}}\mathrm{sech}\left(\frac{\eta x}{\sqrt{2\gamma _2}}\right).$$
(5)
Note that, in this approximation, the linearly coupled equations conserve three dynamical invariants: the Hamiltonian and momentum, expressions for which will not be used here, and the norm $`N`$, which has the physical meaning of energy or power in the applications to optics (depending on the particular interpretation – it is energy in the fiber, or power in the cavity or planar waveguide), or the total number of atoms in the case of BECs,

$$N=_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}\left[\left|u(x)\right|^2+\left|v(x)\right|^2\right]𝑑x.$$
(6)
In the next approximation, when the nonconservative perturbations are taken into account, we assume that $`\eta `$ may be a slowly varying function of time \[then, the expression $`(1/2)\eta ^2t`$ for the SP phase in Eq. (4) is replaced by $`(1/2)\eta ^2(t)𝑑t`$\]. An evolution equation for $`\eta (t)`$ can be derived from the balance equation for $`N`$ . In the case of the cubic loss term, which corresponds to Eq. (1), it is

$$\frac{dN}{dt}=2_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}\left[\gamma \left|u(x)\right|^2\mathrm{\Gamma }\left|v(x)\right|^2\right]𝑑x2\sigma _2_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}\left|u(x)\right|^4𝑑x.$$
(7)
In the case of the quintic loss term, corresponding to Eq. (3), $`\left|u(x)\right|^4`$ in the last term of Eq. (7) is replaced by $`\left|u(x)\right|^6`$.

By itself, Eq. (7) is an exact one. To derive the evolution equation for $`\eta (t)`$ from it, we substitute the approximation (4) for $`u`$, and make use of Eq. (5) (which is solved by means of the Fourier transform). Then, after straightforward calculations following the pattern of Ref. , the resultant evolution equation can be obtained in an explicit form if $`\chi =0`$. With the cubic loss term, it takes the form

$$\frac{d\eta }{dt}=2\gamma \eta \frac{4\sigma _2}{3\sigma _1}\eta ^3C\mathrm{\Gamma }\eta ^3,$$
(8)
where $`C\left(\pi ^2/6\right)+\zeta (3)2.845`$, and $`\zeta `$ is the Riemann’s zeta-function. If the loss term is quintic, Eq. (8) is replaced by

$$\frac{d\eta }{dt}=2\gamma \eta \frac{16\sigma _2}{15\sigma _1}\eta ^5C\mathrm{\Gamma }\eta ^3.$$
(9)
Stationary SP solutions are selected from the continuous soliton family as fixed points (FPs) of Eq. (8) or (9), i.e., as roots of the expression on the right-hand side of the equation. The roots can be found in a simple form in the case of Eq. (9):

$$\eta _{\mathrm{FP}}^4=\left(16\sigma _2\right)^1\left[15\sigma _1^2\gamma \pm \sqrt{15\sigma _1^2\left(15\sigma _1^2\gamma ^216C\sigma _2\mathrm{\Gamma }\right)}\right].$$
(10)
An elementary consideration demonstrates that, in either model, there may exist two physical FPs or none, depending on values of the parameters: in the case of Eq. (8), physical solutions exist if

$$2\sigma _1^2\gamma ^33C\sigma _2^2\mathrm{\Gamma },$$
(11)
and in the case of Eq. (9), this condition is replaced by \[as it immediately follows from Eq. (10)\]

$$15\sigma _1^2\gamma ^216C\sigma _2\mathrm{\Gamma };$$
(12)
note that $`\gamma _2`$ does not appear in Eqs. (11) and (12). Further, it follows from Eqs. (8) and (9) that the FP corresponding to a smaller value of $`\eta `$ \[for instance, the one with the lower sign in Eq. (10)\] is unstable, while the FP corresponding to larger $`\eta `$ is stable (within the framework of the present approximation). In the next section, these analytical predictions will be compared with results of direct numerical simulations.

Lastly, we notice that the stability of the zero solution is a necessary condition for the full stability of any solitary pattern. In turn, simple necessary (but, generally speaking, not sufficient) conditions for the zero-solution stability take a simple form in the case $`\chi =0`$ : $`\gamma <\mathrm{\Gamma }<1/\gamma `$ (which implies that $`\gamma `$ must be smaller than $`1`$).

## 3 Numerical results

In the numerical investigation, SP solutions were looked for as solutions to the stationary version of Eqs. (1), (2) or (3), (2); then, stability of the obtained solutions was tested in simulations of the full time-dependent equations. Typical examples of thus found stable SPs in both models are displayed in Fig. 1.

Results of systematic numerical simulations of Eqs. (1), (2) and (3), (2) are summarized in Fig. 2, which displays generic examples of stability regions for SPs in the parameter plane $`(\sigma _1,\gamma )`$. These two parameters are chosen for the variation, while the others are fixed, as they can be readily varied in the experimental studies of BECs: the gain $`\gamma `$ is controlled by intrinsic parameters of the atom laser, and the nonlinearity $`\sigma _1`$ can be changed by means of the Feshbach resonance . In the applications to optics, the gain parameter is also easy to vary.

The analytical predictions (11) and (12) for the existence of SPs correlate with lower borders of the numerically found stability regions in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b). As is seen, the perturbative result is accurate enough for relatively large values of $`\sigma _1`$ and small values of $`\gamma `$, when the gain and loss may indeed be regarded as small perturbations; with the decrease of $`\sigma _1`$ and increase of $`\gamma `$, the perturbations are no longer small, which explains discrepancy between the analytically predicted and numerically found lower borders in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) in this case.

Below the existence border, the perturbation theory predicts that no stationary SP exists; in accord with this, the numerical simulations show that, beneath the lower border, any initial pulse decays to zero. On the other hand, the upper border of the stability regions in Fig. 2 actually bounds not the existence, but rather stability of the SPs. Above the upper border, perturbations with high wavenumbers grow and destroy the SPs.

The unperturbed NLS equation supports (bright) solitons only in the case

$$\gamma _2\sigma _1>0,$$
(13)
see Eqs. (1) and (3). In terms of nonlinear optics, this condition corresponds to a combination of spatial diffraction or anomalous temporal dispersion and self-focusing nonlinearity, or normal temporal dispersion and self-defocusing nonlinearity; in terms if BECs, it corresponds to the case of negative scattering length .

An issue of considerable interest is whether the addition of dissipative terms makes it possible to relax the condition (13). Note that the exact SP solution to the cubic complex GL equation exists irrespective of this condition , but that solution is always unstable. In Ref. , *stable* SPs were found, in the two-core model including the filtering term, for *both* signs of the product $`\gamma _2\sigma _1`$. However, our result for the present model, in which the filtering term is replaced by the cubic or quintic loss, is that the condition (13) remains necessary for the existence of SPs. In fact, fixing $`\gamma _2`$ to be a positive constant, it is interesting to find the smallest value of the nonlinearity coefficient $`\sigma _1`$ up to which the stable pulse persists. The result \[obtained for Eqs. (1) and (2), with the cubic loss term\] is shown in Fig. 3, which displays the smallest SP-supporting value of $`\sigma _1`$ versus the linear-loss factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, as found by varying the linear gain $`\gamma `$, while $`\sigma _2,\gamma _2`$ and $`\chi =0`$ were fixed.

Similar analysis was performed for models differing from the ones considered above by adding to Eq. (2) the conservative cubic term $`i\sigma _1|v|^2v`$, i.e., essentially the same one as in Eq. (1) or (3). The result is that the stability regions for SPs are similar to, although somewhat smaller than, those shown in Fig. 2.

## 4 Moving pulses and coherent tunneling

One of principal distinctions between the models with the nonlinear loss and ones with the linear diffusion (filtering) is that the models considered in the present work share the Galilean invariance with the NLS equation. Due to this reason, solutions for SPs moving at an arbitrary velocity can be generated by the Galilean transform from any quiescent SP. The moving pulse solution with an arbitrary wavenumber $`k`$ can be expressed as

$$u_k=u_0(xct,t)e^{ikxi\omega t},v_k=v_0(xct,t)e^{ikxi\omega t},$$
(14)
where $`u_0(x,t)`$ and $`v_0(x,t)`$ represent a stationary-SP solution to Eqs. (1) and (2), and

$$c=2\gamma _2k,\omega =\gamma _2k^2.$$
(15)
In the application to BECs, where $`\gamma _2=\mathrm{}/2m`$, Eqs. (15) are tantamount to the usual relations for the momentum and kinetic energy of a quantum particle,

$$\mathrm{}k=mcP,\mathrm{}\omega =(\mathrm{}k)^2/(2m)E_{\mathrm{kin}}.$$
(16)
The availability of the moving pulses suggests numerical experiments aimed at simulation of collisions between them. A typical example of the collisions is displayed in Fig. 4, that presents results of simulations of Eqs. (1) and (2) in a domain with periodic boundary conditions, which gives rise to periodic recurrence of the collision. It is obvious from this figure, and can be observed as a generic situation, unless the relative velocity of the colliding solitons is too small, that the collisions are, practically, completely elastic (if the relative velocity is too small, both SPs decay to zero state after the collision). The same is true for the model with the quintic loss.

In the case of BECs, an external potential, such as a harmonic magnetic trap, is usually an important ingredient of the model (in the optical model describing the spatial evolution of the fields in coupled planar waveguides, a similar term may describe a spatially modulated profile of the refractive index in the waveguides). Equations (1) and (2) in the case of BECs confined by the external potential $`U(x)`$ are modified as

$`u_t`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma u+i(\mathrm{}/2m)u_{xx}+\left(i\sigma _1\sigma _2\right)|u|^2u+ivi\mathrm{}^1U(x)u,`$ (17)
$`v_t`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\mathrm{\Gamma }+i\chi \right)v+i(\mathrm{}/2m)v_{xx}+iui\mathrm{}^1U(x)v.`$ (18)
We have checked that, in the model introduced above, the addition of the harmonic potential $`U(x)=\left(K/2\right)(xL/2)^2`$, where $`x=L/2`$ is the central point of the magnetic trap, gives rise to very persistent periodic oscillations of the SP. Moreover, it can be verified that, in this case, the SP behaves as a perfect quasi-particle, obeying the corresponding equation of motion

$$m\frac{d^2X_p}{dt^2}=\frac{dU}{dx}K(X_pL/2),$$
(19)
where $`X_p`$ is the coordinate of the pulse’s peak (provided that potential’s strength $`K`$ is not too large).

The simplest way to derive Eq. (19) is to assume the solution in the same boosted form as given by the Galilean transformation (14), (15), but assuming that the velocity $`c`$ may be a slowly varying function of time, i.e.,

$`u`$ $`=`$ $`u_0(x{\displaystyle c(t)𝑑t},t)\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{imc(t)}{\mathrm{}}}x{\displaystyle \frac{im}{2\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle c^2(t)𝑑t}\right],`$
$`v`$ $`=`$ $`v_0(x{\displaystyle c(t)𝑑t},t)\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{imc(t)}{\mathrm{}}}x{\displaystyle \frac{im}{2\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle c^2(t)𝑑t}\right].`$ (20)
Then, the approximation (20) should be substituted into the balance equation for the net field momentum $`P`$, which in the presence of the external potential has the form

$`{\displaystyle \frac{dP}{dt}}`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{d}{dt}}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}(i\mathrm{})\left(u^{}u_x+v^{}v_x\right)𝑑x/{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}(|u|^2+|v|^2)𝑑x`$ (21)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}U(x){\displaystyle \frac{}{x}}\left(|u|^2+|v|^2\right)𝑑x/{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}(|u|^2+|v|^2)𝑑x`$
\[note that this definition of the field momentum agrees with the relation $`mcP`$ in Eq. (16) and $`_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}(|u|^2+|v|^2)𝑑x`$ is constant in time for Eq. (20)\]. Finally, identifying $`X_pc(t)𝑑t`$ and assuming that the potential $`U(x)`$ varies on a scale which is essentially larger than the internal size of the pulse, one can easily derive Eq. (19) from Eq. (21) by means of the integration by parts.

Figure 5 displays the time dependence of $`X_p`$ in the harmonic potential $`U(x)=0.005(xL/2)^2`$ for $`m=0.1`$. The initial peak position is $`X_p(0)=L/4=15`$, and the initial wavenumber is $`k=0`$ \[see Eqs. (14)\]. The time evolution of the peak position almost exactly follows the corresponding solution $`X_p(t)=3015\mathrm{cos}(\sqrt{0.1}t)`$ of Eq. (19). If two pulses are originally placed in the trap, they perform persistent oscillations, periodically passing through each other in the elastic fashion, like in Fig. 4.

Another physically relevant possibility (in the application to BECs) is to consider a system with a narrow potential wall which separates a broad but finite trap into two compartments. In other words, it is a double-well configuration, which is frequently considered in the context of one-dimensional BECs, but usually for the case of positive scattering length (i.e., the self-repulsive nonlinearity), see, e.g., Ref. . To simulate this situation, the potential $`U(x)`$ was taken (for instance) as

$$U(x)=\{\begin{array}{cc}2,\hfill & \left|x30\right|>15\hfill \\ 1,\hfill & \left|x30\right|<0.5\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & 0.5<\left|x30\right|<15\hfill \end{array}.$$
(22)
In this case, the initial SP was given a velocity corresponding to the kinetic energy $`E_{\mathrm{kin}}=0.8`$ \[see Eq. (16)\], which is lower than the central potential barrier in the expression (22).

The result is displayed in Fig. 6, which demonstrates that the moving pulse can tunnel across the central potential wall several times. Note that, unlike the case displayed above for the case of the smooth harmonic potential, in the present situation the pulse’s motion does *not* obey the classical Newton’s equation of motion, which may be explained by the fact that the potential function (22) varies steeply in space, breaking the applicability condition for Eq. (19). Further, we notice that, in the course of the multiple tunnelings, the norm of the pulse remains practically constant, while its kinetic energy gradually decreases. Eventually, the tunneling ceases, and the SP finds itself trapped in one compartment.

If the potential function is asymmetric, spatially periodic, and, simultaneously, time-periodic, the quantum ratchet effect may be observed , . To demonstrate this possibility, we adopt a time-periodic sawtooth potential:

$$U(x,t)=\left[1+0.8\mathrm{cos}(2\pi t)\right]\times \{\begin{array}{cc}7(10x),\hfill & 9.5<x<10,\hfill \\ 7(25x),\hfill & 24.5<x<25,\hfill \\ 7(40x),\hfill & 39.5<x<40,\hfill \\ 7(55x),\hfill & 54.5<x<55,\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \mathrm{otherwise},\hfill \end{array}$$
(23)
so that the peak amplitude of the potential oscillates as $`3.5\left[1+0.8\mathrm{cos}(2\pi t)\right]`$. We also assume periodic boundary conditions, the spatial period being $`15`$.

Figure 7(a) displays the time evolution of the peak position for the SP with the initial velocity $`c_0=4`$ \[see Eq. (15)\]. As is seen from the figure, the pulse steadily moves in the right direction. Note that the initial kinetic energy of the pulse, $`E_{\mathrm{kin}}=0.8`$, is lower than the average height, $`U_{\mathrm{max}}=3.5`$, of the potential peak, hence progressive motion is possible due to the tunnel effect. The kinetic energy decreases as a result of the multiple tunnelings as in Fig. 6; however, energy supply is possible in the time-periodic potential. Thus, the nearly steady propagation is possible, as is seen in Fig. 7(a). On the other hand, if the initial velocity is $`c_0=4`$, simulations demonstrate that, while the kinetic energy again decreases in time, the energy supply is not efficient enough in this case to compensate the loss, and the pulse gets trapped in a potential well after a transient, see Fig. 7(b). Thus, the time-periodic sawtooth potential admits only the unidirectional drift to the right, which conforms to the definition of quantum rachets .

## 5 Conclusion

In this work, we have proposed a model of a two-core system, based on an equation of the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) type, coupled to another GL equation, which may be linear or nonlinear. One core is active, being equipped with linear gain, while the other one is lossy. The difference from previously considered models is that the overall stabilization of the system is provided not by the linear filtering (diffusion) term, but rather by cubic or quintic dissipation in the active core. Physical realizations of the model include several systems from nonlinear optics (semiconductor waveguides or optical cavities), and a double-cigar-shaped BEC, in which one “cigar” is actually an atom laser. The replacement of the diffusion term by the nonlinear loss is principally important, as diffusion is not possible in these physical systems, while the nonlinear loss may occur. A stability region for solitary pulses was identified in the relevant parameter plane by means of numerical simulations. One border of the region can be predicted in an analytical form by the perturbation theory. Moving pulses were considered too, with the conclusion that collisions between them are completely elastic (unless the relative velocity is too small), and they withstand multiple tunneling through potential barriers without losing their coherence. The existence of the robust quantum-rachet regime of motion for the pulses was demonstrated as well.


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# Superdeformed bands in neutron-rich Sulfur isotopes suggested by cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock calculations

## 1 Introduction

Recently, superdeformed (SD) rotational bands have been discovered in 36Ar, 40Ca and 44Ti . One of the interesting new features of them is that they are built on excited $`0^+`$ states and observed up to high spin, in contrast to the SD bands in heavier mass regions where low-spin portions of them are unknown in almost all cases . These excited $`0^+`$ states may be associated with multiparticle-multihole excitations from the spherical closed shells, so that we can hope to learn from such data detailed relationships between spherical shell model and SD configurations. For the mass $`A=`$30-50 region, although existence of a SD band in 32S with the SD magic number $`N=Z=16`$ has been expected for a long time , it has not yet been observed and remains as a great challenge .

In this paper, as a continuation of the systematic theoretical search  for SD bands in the mass $`A=`$30-50 region by means of the cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock (SHF) method, we would like to suggest that, in addition to 32S, the neutron-rich nucleus 36S and the nuclei, 48S and 50S, which are situated close to the neutron-drip line, are also good candidates for finding SD rotational bands in Sulfur isotopes. The appearance of the SD band in 36S is suggested in connection with the SD shell structure at $`N=20`$ characterizing the observed SD band in 40Ca. The drip-line nuclei, 48S and 50S, are expected to constitute a new “SD doubly closed” region associated with the SD magic numbers, $`Z=16`$ for protons and $`N32`$ for neutrons. An interesting theoretical subject for the SD bands in nuclei near the neutron drip line is to understand deformation properties of neutron skins. The calculated density distributions indeed exhibit superdeformed neutron skins.

The calculation has been carried out with the use of the three-dimensional (3D), Cartesian coordinate-mesh representation without imposing any symmetry restriction. In parallel, we also carry out the standard calculations  imposing reflection symmetries. By comparing the symmetry restricted and unrestricted calculations, we can examine the stability of the SD solutions of the SHF equations against reflection-asymmetric deformations. In this way, we have found several cases where the SD minima obtained in the symmetry-restricted calculations are in fact unstable with respect to the reflection-asymmetric deformations. In general, the SD states are rather soft against reflection-asymmetric deformations, so that we need careful study about the stabilities of them against various kinds of deformation breaking the reflection symmetries.

After a brief account of the cranked SHF calculational procedure in Section 2, we present and discuss results of the calculation in Section 3, and give conclusions in Section 4. We shall present deformation energy curves for Sulfur isotopes from 32S to 50S, and focus our attention on properties of rotational bands built on the SD $`0^+`$ states, stabilities of the SD local minima against the reflection-asymmetric deformations, and density distributions of the SD states.

A preliminary version of this work was reported in .

## 2 Cranked SHF calculation

Since the cranked SHF method in the 3D coordinate-mesh representation is well known, we here give only a minimum description about the computational procedure actually adopted. For a recent comprehensive review on selfconsistent mean-field models for nuclear structure, see Ref. . The cranked SHF equation for a system uniformly rotating about the $`x`$-axis is given by

$$\delta <H\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}\widehat{J}_x>=0,$$
(1)
where $`H`$, $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$ and $`\widehat{J}_x`$ mean the Hamiltonian with the Skyrme interaction, the rotational frequency and the $`x`$-component of angular momentum, respectively, and the bracket denotes the expectation value with respect to a Slater determinantal state. We solve the cranked SHF equation by means of the imaginary-time evolution technique in the 3D Cartesian-mesh representation. The algorithm of numerical calculation is the standard one , except that we allow for both reflection- and axial-symmetry breakings. In this case, it is important to accurately fulfill the center-of-mass and principal-axis conditions. This is done by means of the constrained HF procedure. We solved these equations inside the sphere with radius $`R`$=10 fm and mesh size $`h`$=1 fm, starting with various initial configurations. The accuracy for evaluating deformation energies with this mesh size was carefully checked by Tajima and was found to be quite satisfactory. When we make a detailed analysis of density distributions, however, we use a smaller mesh size of $`h=\frac{1}{3}`$ fm. In addition to the symmetry-unrestricted cranked SHF calculation, we also carry out symmetry-restricted calculations imposing reflection symmetries about the $`(x,y)`$-, $`(y,z)`$\- and $`(z,x)`$-planes. Below we call these symmetry-unrestricted and -restricted cranked SHF versions “unrestricted” and “restricted” ones, respectively.

Solutions of the cranked SHF equation give local minima in the deformation energy surface. In order to explore the deformation energy surface around these minima and draw deformation energy curves as functions of deformation parameters, we carry out the constrained HF procedure with relevant constraining operators. For the Skyrme interaction, we adopt the widely used three versions; SIII , SkM and SLy4 .

## 3 Results of calculation

### 3.1 Deformation energy curves

Figure 1 shows deformation energy curves for Sulfur isotopes from 32S to 50S obtained with the use of the SIII interaction. Solid lines with and without filled circles represent the results obtained by the unrestricted and restricted versions, respectively. The result of calculation indicates that the SD minima (with the quadrupole deformation parameter $`\beta _20.6`$) appear in the neutron-rich nucleus 36S and the drip-line nuclei, 48S and 50S, in addition to the well-known case of 32S. As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, similar results are obtained for the SkM and SLy4 interactions, except that the SD states in 48S is unstable against the reflection-asymmetric deformation for the SLy4 interaction (see subsection 3.3).

As discussed in Refs., the SD local minimum in 32S corresponds to the doubly closed shell configuration with respect to the SD magic number $`Z=N=16`$ and involves two protons and two neutrons in the down-sloping single-particle levels originating from the $`f_{7/2}`$ shell. The SD local minimum in 36S results from the coherent combination of the SD magic number, $`Z=16`$, and the neutron shell effects occurring at large deformation for $`N=20`$. The latter shell effect has been confirmed recently by the discovery of the SD rotation band in 40Ca . The SD shell gap at $`N=20`$ is associated with the 4p-4h excitation from below the $`N=20`$ spherical closed shell to the $`f_{7/2}`$ shell. Focusing our attention on the occupation numbers of such high-$`j`$ shells and distinguishing protons($`\pi `$) and neutrons($`\nu `$), these SD configurations in 32S and 36S are denoted in Figs. 1-3 as $`f_\pi ^2f_\nu ^2`$ and $`f_\pi ^2f_\nu ^4`$, respectively.

The SD local minima in the drip-line nuclei, 48S and 50S, result from the coherent combination of the proton SD shell effect and the neutron shell effects occurring at superdeformation for $`N=`$32-34. The neutron configurations in these SD states are similar to those in the known SD bands in 60Zn and 62Zn associated with the SD magic numbers $`N=`$30-32. We find that the SD shell effect is strong also for $`N=34`$ in the Sulfur isotopes under consideration, while the SD local minimum in 46S with $`N=30`$ is unstable against the reflection-asymmetric deformation (see subsection 3.3). In the drip-line nuclei 48S and 50S, the $`f_{7/2}`$ shell is fully occupied even in the spherical limit and the SD configurations involve neutron excitations from the $`fp`$-shell to the $`g_{9/2}`$ shell. As before, focusing our attention on the occupation numbers of the high-$`j`$ shells, let us use the notation $`f_\pi ^{n_1}g_\nu ^{n_2}`$ for a configuration in which single-particle levels originating from the $`f_{7/2}`$ and $`g_{9/2}`$ shell are occupied by $`n_1`$ protons and $`n_2`$ neutrons, respectively. With such notations, the SD local minima in 48S and 50S correspond to the $`f_\pi ^2g_\nu ^2`$, and $`f_\pi ^2g_\nu ^4`$ configurations, respectively.

The appearance of the SD minimum in 36S suggests that we can expect a SD band associated with the same neutron configuration to appear also in the $`N=20`$ isotone, 38Ar, situated between 36S and 40Ca. We examined this point and the result is shown in Fig. 4. We find that the two local minima associated with the configurations $`f_\pi ^2f_\nu ^2`$ and $`f_\pi ^2f_\nu ^4`$ compete in energy and their relative energy differs for different versions of the Skyrme interaction: As clearly seen in the deformation-energy curves obtained by the symmetry-restricted calculations, the former with smaller $`\beta _2`$ is slightly lower for SkM and SLy4 while the latter with larger $`\beta _2`$ is slightly lower for SIII. Counting both protons and neutrons, these local minima respectively correspond to the 4p-6h and 6p-8h configurations with respect to the spherical doubly closed shell of 40Ca. As we discussed in the previous papers, the two configurations can mix each other in the crossing region through the reflection-symmetry breaking components in the mean field. Specifically, around the crossing point between the down-sloping $`[321\frac{3}{2}]`$ level (coming from the $`f_{7/2}`$ shell) and the up-sloping $`[200\frac{1}{2}]`$ level (coming from the $`d_{3/2}`$ shell below the $`N=20`$ spherical magic number), the $`r^3Y_{31}`$-type non-axial octupole deformation is generated, and they mix each other through this component of the mean field (see Fig. 5). Note that the matrix element of the operator $`r^3Y_{31}`$ between the two levels satisfies the selection rules, $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_3=2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$, for the asymptotic quantum numbers $`n_3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. As a result of this mixing, the deformation-energy curve becomes rather flat in the symmetry-unrestricted calculation. Recently, the SD band corresponding to the 4p-6h configuration was found in experiment. The data suggest significant competition between different configurations, which requires further analysis of shape fluctuation dynamics by going beyond the static mean-field approximation.

### 3.2 SD rotational bands

Let us focus our attention on the SD local minima shown in Figs. 1-3, and investigate properties of the rotational bands built on them. Excitation energies of these SD rotational bands are plotted in Fig. 6 as functions of angular momentum. These rotational bands are calculated by cranking each SHF solution (the SD local minima in Figs. 1-3) and following the same configuration with increasing value of $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$ until the point where we cannot clearly identify the continuation of the same configuration any more. Thus, the highest values of angular momentum in this figure does not necessarily indicate the band-termination points but merely suggest that drastic changes in their microscopic structure take place around there. Different slopes with respect to the angular momentum between 36S and 50S can be easily understood in terms of the well known scaling factor $`A^{5/3}`$ for the rigid-body moment of inertia. This point can be confirmed in Fig. 7 which displays the angular momentum $`I`$, the kinematical and dynamical moments of inertia, $`𝒥^{(1)}=I/\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$ and $`𝒥^{(2)}=dI/d\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$, and the rigid-body moments of inertia $`𝒥_{\mathrm{rig}}=m\rho (𝒓)(y^2+z^2)𝑑𝒓`$ as functions of the rotational frequency $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$. We see that the calculated moments of inertia are slightly larger than the rigid-body values at $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}=0`$, and smoothly decrease as $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$ increases until $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$2.5 and 1.8 MeV$`/\mathrm{}`$ for 32,36S and 50S, respectively. The result calculated with the SLy4 interaction is shown here, but we obtained similar results also with the SIII and SkM interactions.

Calculated quadrupole deformation parameters $`(\beta _2,\gamma )`$ are displayed in the upper portion of Fig. 6. We see that the $`\beta _2`$ values slowly decrease while the axial-asymmetry parameters $`\gamma `$ gradually increase with increasing angular momentum for all cases of 32S, 36S and 50S. The variations are rather mild in the range of angular momentum shown in this figure. Single-particle energy diagrams (Routhians) for these SD bands are displayed in Fig. 8 as functions of the rotational frequency $`\omega _{\mathrm{rot}}`$. This figure indicates that level crossings take place in 36S and 50S if we further increase the angular momentum.

### 3.3 Stabilities of the SD states against reflection-asymmetric deformations

Let us examine stabilities of the SD local minimum against both the axially symmetric and asymmetric octupole deformation ($`Y_{30},Y_{31},Y_{32},Y_{33}`$). Figure 9 presents deformation energy curves as functions of the octupole deformation parameters $`\beta _{3m}(m=0,1,2,3)`$ for fixed quadrupole deformation parameters (the equilibrium value of $`\beta _2`$ at the SD minimum in each nucleus and $`\gamma =0`$). The computation was carried out by means of the constrained HF procedure with the use of the SIII, SkM, and SLy4 interactions. The result of calculation clearly indicates that the SD states in 32S, 36S and 50S are stable against the octupole deformations and that they are softer for $`\beta _{3m}`$ with lower values of $`m`$ (i.e., for $`\beta _{30}`$ and $`\beta _{31}`$), irrespective of the Skyrme interactions used. We obtaind a similar result also for 48S (but omitted in this figure).

Although the SD minima in 32S, 36S and 50S are stable with respect to $`\beta _{3m}(m=0,1,2,3)`$, we found several cases where the SD minima obtained in the symmetry-restricted calculations become unstable when we allow for reflection-asymmetric deformations of a more general type. As a first example, let us discuss the SD minimum in 46S which appears in the restricted calculation (see Figs. 1-3). In this case, the coupling between the down-sloping $`[330\frac{1}{2}]`$ level (associated with the $`f_{7/2}`$ shell) and the up-sloping $`[202\frac{5}{2}]`$ level (stemming from the $`d_{5/2}`$ shell) takes place in the proton configuration, when we allow for the breaking of both the axial and reflection symmetries. Thus, the SD configuration $`f_\pi ^2g_\nu ^2`$ mixes with the $`g_\nu ^2`$ configuration (which lacks the proton excitation to the $`f_{7/2}`$ shell and has a smaller equilibrium value of $`\beta _2`$). As a consequence of this mixing, the barrier between the two configurations disappears and the SD minimum becomes unstable in the unrestricted calculations (see Figs. 1-3). Note that the difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_3`$ in the asymptotic quantum number $`n_3`$ between the two single-particle levels, $`[330\frac{1}{2}]`$ and $`[202\frac{5}{2}]`$, is three, so that they cannot be mixed by the octupole operator $`r^3Y_{32}`$ which transfers the asymptotic quantum numbers $`n_3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ by $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_3=1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Lambda }=2`$. Thus, this mixing may be associated with the reflection-asymmetric deformation of a more higher order like $`r^5Y_{52}`$.

As a second example, we take up the SD minimum in 48S. In this case, two configurations, $`f_\pi ^2g_\nu ^2`$ and $`f_\pi ^2g_\nu ^4`$ compete in energy and their relative energy differs for different versions of the Skyrme interaction (see Figs. 1-3). When we allow for the breaking of both the axial and reflection symmetries, the coupling between the down-sloping $`[431\frac{3}{2}]`$ level (associated with the $`g_{9/2}`$ shell) and the $`[310\frac{1}{2}]`$ level in the $`fp`$ shell takes place in the neutron configuration, so that they mix each other. Note that the $`[431\frac{3}{2}]`$ and $`[310\frac{1}{2}]`$ levels satisfy the selection rules, $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_3=2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$, for the matrix elements of the octupole operator $`r^3Y_{31}`$. In the calculation with the SLy4 interaction, since the former configuration with smaller $`\beta _2`$ is situated slightly lower in energy than the latter, the barrier between the two configurations disappears as a result of this mixing. This mixing effect in conjunction with that mentioned above for the $`f_\pi ^2g_\nu ^2`$ configuration in 46S deteriorates the SD minimum for the SLy4 case.

The above examples indicate detailed microscopic mechanisms within the mean-field theory how the stability of the SD local minimum is determined by relative energies between the neighboring configurations and their mixing properties.

### 3.4 Density distributions

Figure 10 displays the neutron and proton density profiles for the SD states in 32S, 36S and 50S calculated with the use of the SLy4 interaction. We obtained similar results also for SIII and SkM. In this figure, equi-density lines with 50% and 1% of the central density in the $`(x,y)`$\- and $`(y,z)`$-planes are drawn for the SD bands at $`I=0`$ and at high spins. We can clearly see that superdeformed neutron skin appears in 50S which is situated close to the neutron drip line. The root-mean-square values, $`\sqrt{x^2},\sqrt{y^2},\sqrt{z^2}`$ and $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}=\sqrt{𝒓^2}`$, of these density distributions are listed in Table 1. To indicate the deformation properties of the neutron skin in 50S, calculated values for protons and neutrons are separately listed together with their sums and differences. We obtained density distributions similar to those for 50S also for the SD state in 48S. A similar result of theoretical calculation exhibiting the superdeformed neutron skin was previously reported in Ref. for the SD state in the very neutron-rich nucleus $`{}_{}{}^{208}{}_{66}{}^{}`$Dy142.

## 4 Conclusions

On the basis of the cranked SHF calculations in the 3D coordinate-mesh representation, we have suggested that, in addition to the well-known candidate 32S, the neutron-rich 36S and the the drip-line nuclei, 48S and 50S, are also good candidates for finding SD rotational bands in Sulfur isotopes. Calculated density distributions for the SD states in 48S and 50S, which are situated close to the neutron-drip line, exhibit superdeformed neutron skins.

## Acknowledgements

The numerical calculations were performed on the NEC SX-5 supercomputers at RCNP, Osaka University, and at Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University. This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 13640281) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Table 1

Root-mean-square values, $`\sqrt{x^2},\sqrt{y^2},\sqrt{z^2}`$ and $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}=\sqrt{𝒓^2}`$, of the density distributions at $`I=0`$ (second column) and at $`I=20,22,28`$ (third column) of the SD band in 32S, 36S and 50S, calculated with the use of the SLy4 interaction. Neutron and proton contributions are separately listed together with their sums (total) and differences (diff.).

| 32S | $`I=0`$ | | | | $`I20`$ | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | $`\sqrt{x^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{y^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{z^2}`$ | $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}`$ | $`\sqrt{x^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{y^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{z^2}`$ | $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}`$ |
| total | 1.53 | 1.53 | 2.85 | 3.57 | 1.53 | 1.67 | 2.67 | 3.50 |
| neutrons | 1.52 | 1.52 | 2.83 | 3.55 | 1.52 | 1.66 | 2.65 | 3.48 |
| protons | 1.54 | 1.54 | 2.86 | 3.60 | 1.54 | 1.68 | 2.68 | 3.52 |
| diff. | -0.02 | -0.02 | -0.04 | -0.04 | -0.02 | -0.02 | -0.04 | -0.05 |
| 36S | $`I=0`$ | | | | $`I22`$ | | | |
|  | $`\sqrt{x^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{y^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{z^2}`$ | $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}`$ | $`\sqrt{x^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{y^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{z^2}`$ | $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}`$ |
| total | 1.59 | 1.59 | 2.78 | 3.58 | 1.61 | 1.73 | 2.63 | 3.53 |
| neutrons | 1.62 | 1.62 | 2.78 | 3.60 | 1.64 | 1.75 | 2.64 | 3.57 |
| protons | 1.55 | 1.55 | 2.78 | 3.54 | 1.57 | 1.69 | 2.61 | 3.48 |
| diff. | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.00 | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.09 |
| 50S | $`I=0`$ | | | | $`I28`$ | | | |
|  | $`\sqrt{x^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{y^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{z^2}`$ | $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}`$ | $`\sqrt{x^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{y^2}`$ | $`\sqrt{z^2}`$ | $`R_{\mathrm{rms}}`$ |
| total | 1.81 | 1.81 | 3.11 | 4.03 | 1.82 | 1.96 | 2.95 | 3.98 |
| neutrons | 1.90 | 1.90 | 3.17 | 4.16 | 1.91 | 2.05 | 3.02 | 4.12 |
| protons | 1.62 | 1.62 | 2.96 | 3.75 | 1.63 | 1.75 | 2.79 | 3.67 |
| diff. | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0.20 | 0.41 | 0.28 | 0.31 | 0.23 | 0.45 |


text:
# Singlet-Triplet Transition Tuned by Asymmetric Gate Voltages in a Quantum Ring

## Abstract

Wavefunction and interaction effects in the addition spectrum of a Coulomb blockaded many electron quantum ring are investigated as a function of asymmetrically applied gate voltages and magnetic field. Hartree and exchange contributions to the interaction are quantitatively evaluated at a crossing between states extended around the ring and states which are more localized in one arm of the ring. A gate tunable singlet-triplet transition of the two uppermost levels of this many electron ring is identified at zero magnetic field.

preprint: APS/123-QED

The energy spectra of few-electron quantum dots, so called artificial atoms, are well understood Tarucha et al. (1996). Interaction effects and shell filling according to Hund’s rules have been measured in good agreement with theoretical calculations. It was shown Tarucha et al. (2000) that level-crossings induced by a magnetic field may lead to singlet-triplet transitions. Comparison with a model allowed to extract exchange and direct Coulomb interaction contributions. A tunable transition from a singlet to a triplet ground state, i.e. the control of the exchange splitting relative to the single-particle splitting, is of interest in view of possible quantum computing applications Loss and DiVincenzo (1998); Saraga and Loss (2003). For a laterally defined few-electron dot Kyriakidis et al. (2002) it was shown that such a transition may also be induced by shape deformations of the potential when tuning the gate voltage. Recently this idea was taken up in an experiment Kogan et al. (2003) in the Kondo regime where indications of a singlet-triplet transition at zero magnetic field were found.

In contrast to few electron dots, energy spectra of many electron dots, as extracted from addition spectroscopy measurements in the Coulomb blockade regime, are more difficult to interpret and only a statistical analysis is possible Ullmo and Baranger (2001); Baranger et al. (2000); Jiang et al. (2003); Lüscher et al. (2001). Recently, however, we have shown that in the case of a quantum ring with weak interactions, it is possible to understand in great detail the energy spectrum measured as a function of a magnetic field applied normal to the plane of the ring Ihn et al. (2003); Fuhrer et al. (2001). We used the constant interaction model to extract an experimental single-particle spectrum.

In the present study we investigate interaction effects beyond the constant interaction in the ring spectrum. Tuning the symmetry between the arms of the ring by applying gate voltages allows to induce crossings between rather localized and more extended ring states. We can determine the magnitude of different interaction contributions in the quantum ring. This allows us to identify gate voltage regimes where the two uppermost electrons occupy either a singlet or a triplet state. At the same time we are able to characterize qualitatively the orbital wave functions associated with energy levels.

The sample is an \[Al\]GaAs heterostructure containing a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) 34 nm below the surface. The electron sheet density is $`5\times 10^{15}\mathrm{m}^2`$ and a mobility of $`90\mathrm{m}^2/\mathrm{Vs}`$ at 4.2 K is found. The quantum ring is fabricated by local oxidation of the GaAs surface with a scanning force microscope (SFM) Fuhrer et al. (2002). An SFM-image of the structure is shown in the inset of Fig. 1(a). The ring has a radius of $`r_0=132\mathrm{nm}`$ and is connected to source (s) and drain (d) through two tunnel barriers (dashed lines). These barriers are tuned by four in-plane gates (q1-q4) and an additional metallic top gate covering the whole structure. By applying gate voltages $`V_{\mathrm{pg1}}=V_{\mathrm{pg2}}`$ to the two in-plane plunger gates pg1 and pg2 the number of electrons on the ring is tuned one by one along the red line in Fig. 1(b). We estimate the ring to contain more than 60 and less than 200 electrons Ihn et al. (2003). For asymmetrically applied gate voltages along the curved blue line in Fig. 1(b) the electron number is constant but the symmetry of the ring is modified. The curvature of the Coulomb peak positions reflects the voltage dependence of the in-plane gate lever arms $`\beta _{\mathrm{pg}i}\left(V_{\mathrm{pg}i}\right)`$. We determine the average lever arm for each value of in-plane gate voltage from Coulomb blockade diamonds \[Fig. 1(a)\] as a function of top and in-plane gate voltages Ihn et al. (2003). The two plunger gates tune the energy $`\delta `$ of ring states according to

$$\delta (V_{\mathrm{pg1}},V_{\mathrm{pg2}})=e\left[\beta _{\mathrm{pg1}}\left(V_{\mathrm{pg1}}\right)V_{\mathrm{pg1}}+\beta _{\mathrm{pg2}}\left(V_{\mathrm{pg2}}\right)V_{\mathrm{pg2}}\right].$$

We define the asymmetry parameter $`\alpha `$ as

$$\alpha (V_{\mathrm{pg1}},V_{\mathrm{pg2}})=e\left[\beta _{\mathrm{pg1}}\left(V_{\mathrm{pg1}}\right)V_{\mathrm{pg1}}\beta _{\mathrm{pg2}}\left(V_{\mathrm{pg2}}\right)V_{\mathrm{pg2}}\right].$$

This corresponds to a coordinate transformation where the blue (red) line in Fig. 1(b) becomes the horizontal (vertical) axis in Figs. 1(c) and (d).

The addition spectrum in Fig. 1(c) is obtained by fitting each Coulomb peak and plotting its position as a function of $`\alpha `$ and $`\delta `$. A constant $`E_\mathrm{C}=310\mu `$eV, i.e. the minimum peak spacing in the parameter range investigated, was subtracted from all peak spacings err . The Coulomb peaks are numbered with increasing energy $`\delta `$ and presented in the same color throughout the paper. The spectrum as a function of perpendicular magnetic field at zero asymmetry Fuhrer et al. (2001) is depicted in Fig. 1(d). At B=77 mT and $`\alpha =0`$ (black horizontal lines) the two spectra are identical except near the points where a charge rearrangement (black dashed lines) adds additional offsets to some peak positions. The amplitudes of the peaks (not shown) for the two sweeps show the same magnitudes. We conclude that the ring is in the same state for both measurements taken in the same cooldown.

In a constant interaction picture spin pairs are expected to occur with a parallel evolution as a function of any parameter tuning the orbital part of the wave function. In contrast, Fig. 1(c) shows peaks changing their spacing as a function of $`\alpha `$. For each peak linear sections are observed belonging to one of two classes of slopes $`a`$ and $`b`$ (shown in the inset). At the transition between two linear parts a cusp occurs \[black arrow in Fig. 1(c)\] which usually has a counterpart in one of the neighboring peak positions. We argue in the following that these features are due to level crossings between states $`b`$ with a probability density extended around the ring and states $`a`$ that are rather localized in one arm of the ring.

We denote states with a probability density extending around the ring as ‘extended’. In the same spirit a ‘localized’ state connects to both, source and drain, but has appreciable probability density predominantly in one arm of the ring. Extended states are strongly influenced by AB-flux through the central annulus. They exhibit a strong zig-zag motion with a period $`\mathrm{\Delta }B=75`$ mT corresponding to the addition of one flux quantum. This magnetic finger print is due to alternating crossings of well defined angular momentum states Fuhrer et al. (2001). These levels are experimentally found to occur in spin pairs \[peaks 3 and 4 as well as 9 and 10 in Fig. 1(d)\], i.e. the orbital levels are successively occupied with spin up and spin down. In a sequence of 16 peaks we find more than 12 pairwise correlated suggesting a comparatively small influence of interactions beyond the constant interaction model.

However, some peaks, e.g. peak 2 in Fig. 1(d), do not exhibit such pairing. We attribute this behavior to the more localized character of the wave function. In a realistic ring structure perfect rotational symmetry may always be slightly perturbed by source and drain junctions, a small geometric asymmetry or background potential fluctuations. These perturbations lift degeneracies in the ring spectrum Büttiker et al. (1984) and mix angular momentum states at small energies in each radial subband. A sufficiently strong asymmetry may lead to localization of some states in one arm of the ring and a flat magnetic field dispersion is expected. The interaction energy necessary to charge a second electron into one of these states is larger than that for extended states and spin pairing is less likely to be observed.

Measurements as a function of asymmetry \[Fig. 1(c)\] help to identify localized states. States which are more localized in the upper arm of the ring will tend to lower their energy with increasing asymmetry, whereas those in the lower arm will be raised. For a rotationally symmetric state extended around the ring these two effects cancel and in first order the level is independent of asymmetry in analogy with the Stark effect.

We identify the levels with a steep positive slope as a function of $`\alpha `$, i.e. peak 2 (purple) and 5 (red) at $`\alpha =0`$ in Fig. 1(c), with states that are more localized in the lower arm of the ring. The evolution of these levels is indicated by the dashed sections of the peak positions. Accordingly, they show a rather flat $`B`$-dispersion in Fig. 1(d). While this is obvious for peak 2 (purple) it is not immediately clear for peak 5 (red) which shows a zig-zag behavior as a function of magnetic field. However, looking carefully at the evolution of this level at $`B=77`$ mT we find a short flat section. Together with the absence of spin pairing, we conclude that there is a localized state close to an extended state in agreement with the asymmetry data, which frequently cross as a function of $`B`$.

The clearest case of an extended state is observed for peaks 3 and 4 (cyan and green). Here, we observe correlated zig-zag behavior over a large $`B`$-range as well as a small slope of both peaks in a large interval of $`\alpha `$. They run in parallel until a localized state crosses indicating identical orbital wavefunctions and spin pairing.

In the following we discuss such a crossing between a localized and an extended spin pair in a Hartree-Fock picture, which allows us to extract Hartree and exchange contributions to the interaction from our data.

To this end we follow the notation of Ref. Tarucha et al., 2000 where the uppermost levels of a few electron dot were studied. In contrast to their model we do not neglect the interaction with lower lying (core) levels since we do not know the spin configuration of the dot. We neglect self-consistent changes of the single-particle orbital wavefunctions Koopmans (1934) with changing number of electrons from N+1 to N+4. This is generally taken to be a good approximation for regular many-electron dots with $`N1`$ and weak interactions Walker et al. (1999). The electrochemical potential of the ring is then given by Schwabl (1993)

$$\mu _N\left(\alpha \right)=ϵ_N(\alpha )+\underset{j=1}{\overset{N1}{}}\left[C_{Nj}\delta _{s_Ns_j}K_{Nj}\right]$$
(1)
where the overlap integrals for the Hartree and the exchange terms are

$`C_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`e^2{\displaystyle 𝑑\stackrel{}{r}𝑑\stackrel{}{r}^{}|\varphi _i(\stackrel{}{r})|^2G(\stackrel{}{r},\stackrel{}{r}^{})|\varphi _j(\stackrel{}{r}^{})|^2}`$
$`K_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`e^2{\displaystyle 𝑑\stackrel{}{r}𝑑\stackrel{}{r}^{}\varphi _i^{}(\stackrel{}{r})\varphi _j^{}(\stackrel{}{r}^{})G(\stackrel{}{r},\stackrel{}{r}^{})\varphi _i(\stackrel{}{r}^{})\varphi _j(\stackrel{}{r})}`$
$`s_i`$ is the spin associated with the single-particle wavefunction $`\varphi _i`$ and the index $`i`$ runs over particles on the ring counting each filled orbital twice. The function $`G(\stackrel{}{r},\stackrel{}{r}^{})`$ is the electrostatic Green’s function of the system.

Fig. 2(a) shows a crossing of the two uppermost orbital single-particle energy levels as a function of $`\alpha `$. Level $`ϵ_b(\alpha )`$ (bold line) is an extended state, $`ϵ_a(\alpha )`$ (dashed line) a more localized state and the single-particle level spacing $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{ba}`$ depends on $`\alpha `$. Below these single particle levels we consider $`N`$ electrons occupying core states of the ring. In Eq. (1) we split the interaction term into a part due to core levels and a part due to levels $`a`$ and $`b`$. Assuming that the core electron configuration does not change when levels $`a`$ and $`b`$ are filled, the Hartree contribution of the core levels is irrelevant for the peak spacings considered. The exchange contribution of the core levels, however, depends on the spin which is being filled into the ring and is given by $`\stackrel{~}{K}_i^{\mathrm{core}}=_{j<a,b}\left(\delta _{s_j}\delta _{s_j}\right)K_{ij}`$. The interactions of levels $`a`$ and $`b`$ with the lower levels can only be neglected if each core orbital is doubly occupied resulting in total core spin 0.

Fig. 2(b) shows the expected peak positions and spacings schematically. The first additional electron will occupy the lower of the two orbitals $`a`$ and $`b`$ ($`\mu _1`$). Far from the crossing \[regions I and V in Fig. 2(b)\] the second electron ($`\mu _2`$) will fill the same orbital and form a singlet with the electron which is present. The level spacing $`\mu _2\mu _1`$ is given by the Hartree interaction $`C_{ii}`$ between the two electrons on the same orbital plus an exchange contribution $`\stackrel{~}{K}_i^{\mathrm{core}}`$. The Hartree contribution is larger for a localized state ($`C_{aa}>C_{bb}`$) and the separation between the peak spacings in region I is therefore larger than in region V.

Closer to the crossing we expect a singlet-triplet transition regarding the total spin of the two uppermost levels as a function of $`\alpha `$ when the gain in exchange energy for parallel spins becomes larger than $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{ba}`$. This leads to kinks in the peak position $`\mu _2`$ in Fig. 2(b) Baranger et al. (2000). However, in the case of two levels with different probability densities fluctuations in the Hartree term contribute as well. In our case the fact that $`C_{ab}<C_{aa}`$ supports the exchange interaction in shifting the transition $`III`$ to the triplet state to smaller $`\alpha `$. This leads to kinks in $`\mu _2`$ even if the exchange contribution is negligible (e.g. because it is smaller than the thermal energy). The pairs of kinks in $`\mu _2`$ and $`\mu _3`$ at the transitions from region $`III`$ and $`IVV`$ always occur at the same asymmetry value. The extent of region III depends on the difference $`C_{bb}C_{aa}`$ and vanishes only for levels with the same probability densities.

Exchange and Hartree contributions can be discerned by following the evolution of a spin pair as a function of $`\alpha `$. For small $`\alpha `$ (region I) the separation between $`\mu _3`$ and $`\mu _4`$ is given by $`E=C_{bb}+\stackrel{~}{K}_b^{\mathrm{core}}`$. In the triplet region III the separation $`D=\mu _3\mu _2`$ is larger by the exchange energy $`K_{\mathrm{ab}}`$ between the two orbitals. For large $`\alpha `$ (region V), $`E`$ is recovered in $`\mu _2\mu _1`$. We show in the following that this pattern is observed in the experiment.

In Fig. 2(c) we focus on peaks 3 (cyan) and 4 (green) which we have identified as a spin pair of an extended state for small $`\alpha `$ and two more localized levels (magenta and red). The separation between the two peak positions changes whenever a localized level crosses, i.e. peaks 3 and 4 at $`\alpha =0`$ meV (separation $`D`$) are further apart than peaks 4 and 5 at $`\alpha =1.5`$ meV (separation $`E`$) and peaks 2 and 3 at $`\alpha =+1.5`$ meV (separation $`E`$). Comparing these variations with the model (Fig. 2(b) and (c) inset) we identify the central region with the triplet state. Increasing $`\alpha `$ while staying between peak 2 and 3 tunes the ring from a singlet to a triplet back to a singlet state.

Analyzing the peak separations with the model we determine the interaction contributions given in table 1.

The uncertainty of these values is of the order of $`10\mu `$eV comparable to the thermal energy. The value of the exchange contribution is small but larger than the thermal broadening of the peaks. The value for $`C_{aa}`$ was estimated by assuming that the two localized states indicated by the steep thin black lines in Fig. 2(c) belong to the same orbital wave function. We expect that any localized orbital wave function has to fill at least one arm of the ring, given that a conductance peak is observable. This gives an upper bound of two for the ratio $`C_{aa}/C_{bb}`$, in agreement with the analysis. Additional measurements taken during a second cooldown in a regime where the ring was more strongly coupled to the contacts confirm the general findings for the crossings of localized and extended states and the corresponding kinks in the peak positions. However, in this case we were not able to resolve exchange effects due to a larger peak width.

Our results show that in a Coulomb-blockaded many-electron ring (dot) the gate voltage controlled preparation of a specific spin state is possible at low temperatures. The special arrangement with a separate gate for each arm of the ring allowed to tune the ring’s symmetry. We have demonstrated an asymmetry induced singlet-triplet transition. Energy level shifts as a function of asymmetric gate voltages and magnetic field were related to properties of the corresponding wavefunctions. Hartree and exchange interaction contributions were quantitatively determined.