Information compression at the turbulent phase transition in cold-atom gases

Giampaoli, R.; Figueiredo, J. L.; Rodrigues, J. D.; Rodrigues, José-António; Terças, H.; Mendonça, J. T.

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/20408

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Authors

Giampaoli, R.

Figueiredo, J. L.

Rodrigues, J. D.

Rodrigues, José-António

Terças, H.

Mendonça, J. T.

Abstract(s)

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.