Magnetic phases of spin-1 spin-orbit coupled Bose gases

We experimentally explore the magnetic phases present in a near-zero temperature spin-1 spin-orbit coupled atomic Bose gas. We observe ferromagnetic and unpolarized phases which are stabilized by the spin-orbit coupling’s explicit locking between spin and motion. In the limit of weak spin-orbit coupling, these phases are separated by a critical curve of 1st order quantum phase transitions, with an observed width as small as $h \times 4 \text{ Hz}$. These phase transitions give rise to long-lived metastable states.