Theoretical analysis of super–Bloch oscillations

Abstract

Several recent studies have investigated the dynamics of cold atoms in optical lattices subject to ac forcing; the theoretically predicted renormalization of the tunneling amplitudes has been verified experimentally. Recent observations include global motion of the atom cloud, such as giant ``super--Bloch oscillations'' (SBOs). We show that, in order to understand unexplained features of SBOs, in addition to the renormalization of the tunneling, a new and important phase correction must be included. For fermionic systems with strong attractive interactions, one may engineer different types of collisions and recollisions between bound-pairs and unpaired atoms.