Tunneling-induced damping of phase coherence revivals in deep optical lattices

Abstract

We consider phase coherence collapse and revival in deep optical lattices, and calculate within the Bose-Hubbard model the revival amplitude damping incurred by a finite tunneling coupling of the lattice wells (after sweeping from the superfluid to the Mott phase). Deriving scaling laws for the corresponding decay of first-order coherence revival in terms of filling factor, final lattice depth, and number of tunneling coupling partners, we estimate whether revival-damping related to tunneling between sites can be or even has already been observed in experiment.