Dynamics of the modified Kibble-Żurek mechanism in antiferromagnetic spin-1 condensates

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics and outcome of a quantum phase transition from an antiferromagnetic to a phase-separated ground state in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate of ultracold atoms. We explicitly demonstrate double universality in the dynamics within experiments with various quench times. Furthermore, we show that spin domains created in the nonequilibrium transition constitute a set of mutually incoherent quasicondensates. The quasicondensates appear to be positioned in a semiregular fashion, which is a result of the conservation of local magnetization during the postselection dynamics.