Spinor Bose-Einstein condensate as an analog simulator of molecular bending vibrations
- 1Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
- 2ICFO - Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
- 3Departament de Física Teòrica and IFIC, Universitat de València-CSIC, C/Dr Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot (Valencia), Spain
Abstract
We demonstrate that spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can be operated as an analog simulator of the two-dimensional vibron model. This algebraic model describes bending vibrations of molecules and, in the case of triatomic molecules, exhibits two phases where linear and bent configurations are stabilised. Spinor BECs can be engineered to simulate states that correspond to linear or bent triatomic molecules, with the Wigner function of the BEC encoding information about the molecular configuration. We show how quantum simulations of the bending dynamics of linear molecules can be realised, and how preparing a linear configuration in the bent phase leads to a dynamical instability. In the dynamics triggered by the corresponding instability, a significant amount of entanglement is generated, and we characterise the dynamics with the squeezing parameter and the quantum Fisher information (QFI). The scaling of the non-Gaussian sensitivity, described by the difference between squeezing and QFI, grows with the system size once the spinor system crosses from the linear to the bent phase, thus serving as a dynamical witness for the quantum phase transition.
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BibTeX
@article{usui2026spinor,
title = {{Spinor Bose-Einstein condensate as an analog simulator of molecular bending vibrations}},
author = {Ayaka Usui and Artur Niezgoda and Manuel Gessner},
journal = {Quantum},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.22331/q-2026-10-01-2226},
url = {https://quantum-journal.org/papers/q-2026-10-01-2226/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Spinor Bose-Einstein condensate as an analog simulator of molecular bending vibrations
AU - Ayaka Usui
AU - Artur Niezgoda
AU - Manuel Gessner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Quantum
DO - 10.22331/q-2026-10-01-2226
UR - https://quantum-journal.org/papers/q-2026-10-01-2226/
AB - We demonstrate that spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can be operated as an analog simulator of the two-dimensional vibron model. This algebraic model describes bending vibrations of molecules and, in the case of triatomic molecules, exhibits two phases where linear and bent configurations are stabilised. Spinor BECs can be engineered to simulate states that correspond to linear or bent triatomic molecules, with the Wigner function of the BEC encoding information about the molecular configuration. We show how quantum simulations of the bending dynamics of linear molecules can be realised, and how preparing a linear configuration in the bent phase leads to a dynamical instability. In the dynamics triggered by the corresponding instability, a significant amount of entanglement is generated, and we characterise the dynamics with the squeezing parameter and the quantum Fisher information (QFI). The scaling of the non-Gaussian sensitivity, described by the difference between squeezing and QFI, grows with the system size once the spinor system crosses from the linear to the bent phase, thus serving as a dynamical witness for the quantum phase transition.
SN - 2521-327X
ER -