Non-equilibrium Mott transition in a lattice of Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of the zero temperature Mott insulator- superfluid quantum phase transition in a lattice of weakly coupled Bose-Einstein condensates. We show that crossing the critical point from the insulating to the superfluid phase at a finite rate results in a finite dispersion of current. Viceversa, crossing the critical point from the superfluid phase to the insulating one, results in a finite dispersion of the number of atoms per lattice site. We develop a microscopic dynamical model of the transition, and make quantitative predictions for realistic experiments.