Dissipation induced Tonks-Girardeau gas in an optical lattice

Abstract

We present a theoretical investigation of a lattice Tonks-gas that is created by inelastic, instead of elastic interactions. An analytical calculation shows that in the limit of strong two-body losses, the dynamics of the system is effectively that of a Tonks gas. We also derive an analytic expression for the effective loss rate. We find good agreement between these analytical results and results from a rigorous numerical calculation. The Tonks character of the gas is visible both in a reduced effective loss rate and in the momentum distribution of the gas.