On the infrared cutoff for dipolar droplets

Abstract

The beyond mean-field physics due to quantum fluctuations is often described by the Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) correction, which can be approximately written as a simple analytical expression in terms of the mean-field employing local density approximation. This model has proven to be very successful in predicting the dynamics in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates both qualitatively and quantitatively. Yet, a small deviation between experimental results and the theoretical prediction has been observed when comparing experiment and theory of the phase boundary of a free-space quantum droplet. For this reason, we revisit the theoretical description of quantum fluctuations in dipolar quantum gases. We study alternative cutoffs, compare them to experimental results and discuss limitations.