Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 224, 519–524 (2015)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2015-02381-3

Regular Article

Optimal scaling of persistent currents for interacting bosons on a ring

¹ Université Grenoble Alpes, LPMMC, 38000 Grenoble, France
² CNRS, LPMMC, 38000 Grenoble, France
³ Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Institut für Physik, 55099 Mainz, Germany
⁴ NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore and Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, 56126 Pisa, Italy
⁵ Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 117543, Singapore
⁶ CNR-MATIS-IMM & Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, 95127 Catania, Italy
⁷ National Institute of Education and Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 637616, Singapore

^a e-mail: marco.cominotti@lpmmc.cnrs.fr

Received: 15 October 2014
Revised: 19 February 2015
Published online: 9 April 2015

Abstract

We consider the persistent currents induced by an artificial gauge field applied to interacting ultra-cold bosonic atoms in a tight ring trap. Using both analytical and numerical methods, we study the scaling of the persistent current amplitude with the size of the ring. In the strongly interacting regime we find a power-law scaling, in good agreement with the predictions of the Luttinger-liquid theory. By exploring all interaction regimes we find that the scaling is optimal, i.e. the current amplitude decreases slower with the system size, at intermediate interactions.