Separation of Timescales in a Quantum Newton's Cradle

Abstract: For strongly repulsive bosons in one dimension, we provide detailed modeling of the Bragg pulse used in quantum Newton's cradle-like settings or in Bragg spectroscopy experiments. By employing the Fermi-Bose mapping for a finite harmonically trapped gas and the Quench Action approach for a thermodynamic system on a ring, we reconstruct the exact post-pulse many-body time evolution of Lieb-Liniger gases in the Tonks-Girardeau limit, together with their changing local density profile and momentum distribution. Our results display a clear separation of timescales between rapid and trap-insensitive relaxation immediately after the pulse, followed by slow in-trap periodic behaviour.