Generating macroscopic superpositions with interacting Bose-Einstein condensates: Multimode speedups and speed limits

We theoretically investigate the effect of multimode dynamics on the creation of macroscopic superposition states (spin-cat states) in Bose-Einstein condensates via one-axis twisting. A two-component Bose-Einstein condensate naturally realizes an effective one-axis twisting interaction, under which an initially separable state will evolve toward a spin-cat state. However, the large evolution times necessary to realize these states is beyond the scope of current experiments. This evolution time is proportional to the degree of asymmetry in the relative scattering lengths of the system, which results in the following trade-off: faster evolution times are associated with an increase in multimode dynamics, and we find that generally multimode dynamics reduce the degree of entanglement present in the final state. However, we find that highly entangled catlike states are still possible in the presence of significant multimode dynamics and that these dynamics impose a speed limit on the evolution of such states.