We present an investigation of the fast decompression of a three-dimensional (3D) Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) at finite temperature using an engineered trajectory for the harmonic trapping potential. Taking advantage of the scaling invariance properties of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we exhibit a solution yielding a final state identical to that obtained through a perfectly adiabatic transformation, in a much shorter time. Experimentally, we perform a large trap decompression and displacement within a time comparable to the final radial trapping period. By simultaneously monitoring the BEC and the non-condensed fraction, we demonstrate that our specific trap trajectory is valid both for a quantum interacting many-body system and a classical ensemble of non-interacting particles.

We study, experimentally and theoretically, the controlled transfer of harmonically trapped ultracold gases between different quantum states. In particular we experimentally demonstrate a fast decompression and displacement of both a noninteracting gas and an interacting Bose-Einstein condensate which are initially at equilibrium. The decompression parameters are engineered such that the final state is identical to that obtained after a perfectly adiabatic transformation despite the fact that the fast decompression is performed in the strongly non-adiabatic regime. During the transfer the atomic sample goes through strongly out-of-equilibrium states while the external confinement is modified until the system reaches the desired stationary state. The scheme is theoretically based on the invariants of motion and scaling equations techniques and can be generalized to decompression trajectories including an arbitrary deformation of the trap. It is also directly applicable to arbitrary initial non-equilibrium states.

We calculate the spectrum of low-lying collective excitations in a mesoscopic cloud formed by a Bose-Einstein condensate and a spin-polarized Fermi gas as a function of the boson-fermion repulsions. The cloud is under isotropic harmonic confinement and its dynamics is treated in the collisional regime by using the equations of generalized hydrodynamics with inclusion of surface effects. For large numbers of bosons we find that, as the cloud moves towards spatial separation (demixing) with increasing boson-fermion coupling, the frequencies of a set of collective modes show a softening followed by a sharp upturn. This behavior permits a clear identification of the quantum phase transition. We propose a physical interpretation for the dynamical transition point in a confined mixture, leading to a simple analytical expression for its location.