Nonequilibrium dynamics of spin-orbit coupled lattice bosons

Abstract

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of two component bosonic atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. In the Mott insulating regime, the two-component bosonic system at unity filling can be described by the quantum spin XXZ model. The atoms are initially prepared in their lower spin states. The system becomes out of equilibrium by suddenly introducing spin-orbit coupling to the atoms. The system shows the relaxation and non-stationary dynamics, respectively, in the different interaction regimes. We find that the time average of magnetization is useful to characterize the many-body dynamics. The effects of even and odd numbers of sites are discussed. Our result sheds light on non-equilibrium dynamics due to the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and atomic interactions.