Interaction-induced fractional Bloch and tunneling oscillations

Abstract

We study the dynamics of few interacting bosons in a one-dimensional lattice with dc bias. In the absence of interactions the system displays single-particle Bloch oscillations. For strong interaction the Bloch oscillation regime re-emerges with fractional Bloch periods which are inversely proportional to the number of bosons clustered into a bound state. The interaction strength affects the oscillation amplitude. Excellent agreement is found between numerical data and a composite particle dynamics approach. For specific values of the interaction strength, a particle will tunnel from the interacting cloud to a well-defined distant lattice location.