Quantum Mass Acquisition in Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensates

Abstract

Quantum mass acquisition, in which a massless (quasi)particle becomes massive due to quantum corrections, is predicted to occur in several subfields of physics. However, its experimental observation remains elusive since the emergent energy gap is too small. We show that a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate is an excellent candidate for the observation of such a peculiar phenomenon as the energy gap turns out to be 2 orders of magnitude larger than the zero-point energy. This extraordinarily large energy gap is a consequence of the dynamical instability. The propagation velocity of the resultant massive excitation mode is found to be decreased by the quantum corrections as opposed to phonons.