Shih‐Wen Feng
The coherence of a quantum system is one of the key signatures of many-body physics. While a three-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) exhibits true long-range coherence, a Bose gas confined in a one-dimensional (1D) potential displays quasi-long-range order. Experimentally, these coherence properties are typically probed via the momentum distribution, which corresponds to the Fourier transform of the one-body correlation function. In two-dimensional (2D) systems, for example, momentum distribution enables the observation of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition from a thermal cloud to a superfluid. With trimodal distribution fitting, an intermediate quasicondensate phase is also revealed. In 1D systems, the momentum distribution of a quenched Tonks-Girardeau (TG) Bose gas can be mapped to that of a non-interacting Fermi gas at a specific evolution time, achieving the rapidity distribution. On the other hand, spin-orbit coupling (SOC) has emerged as one of the central topics in ultracold atomic physics. In additional to creating an artificial electric or magnetic field, researchers also observe negative-mass dynamics in a spin-orbit-coupled BEC by engineering the curvature of the band dispersion. This phenomenon is directly observable in the density distribution of the system. In 1D systems, SOC also introduces rich physical phenomena; while low-energy 1D quantum systems are conventionally described by Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL) theory, SOC notably alters the energy-momentum dispersion. This modification gives rise to unconventional Luttinger liquids whose properties are governed by the spin-orbit coupling strength.In this work, we first investigate the qualitative properties of a 1D Bose gas and demonstrate the temperature dependence of the momentum distribution, revealing how the thermal fluctuations destroy the quasi-long-range order. In the second part, we probe the effects of 1D SOC on a 1D Bose gas, focusing on how SOC modifies the energy-momentum dispersion and the resulting momentum distribution. We demonstrate that within a specific parameter regime, the momentum distribution and its associated coherence properties undergo distinct qualitative changes. The occupied higher momentum states induce phase fluctuations and destroy the coherence of the system, showing signals of the non-Luttinger liquid physics. We probe the coherence properties of a 1D system along these two parameter axes.