Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The statistical properties of physical systems in thermal equilibrium are blatantly different from their far-from-equilibrium counterparts. In the latter, fluctuations often dominate the dynamics and might cluster in ordered patterns in the form of dissipative coherent structures. Here, we study the transition of a cold atomic cloud, driven close to a sharp electronic resonance, from a stable to a turbulent phase. From the atomic density distribution---measured using a spatially resolved pump-probe technique---we have computed the Shannon entropy on two different basis sets. Information compression, corresponding to a minimum in the Shannon entropy, has been observed at criticality, where the system fluctuations organize into high-order (low-entropy) patterns. Being independent of the representation used, this feature is a property shared by a vast class of physical systems undergoing phase transitions.
Source: Physical Review Research
Authors: R. Giampaoli, J. L. Figueiredo, J. D. Rodrigues, J. A. Rodrigues, H. Terças, J. T. Mendonça
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Lisbon, Collège de France, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, École Normale Supérieure - PSL, Sorbonne Université, Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, University of Algarve
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,625
OpenAlex ID: W4308242683