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arXiv:1012.3762 · New Journal of Physics

Formation of matter-wave soliton molecules

Usama Al Khawaja, Henk T. C. Stoof

Published Aug 8, 2011• 52 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose an experiment for forming matter-wave soliton molecules. In the proposed setup, we show that if two solitons are initially prepared in phase and with a sufficiently small separation and relative velocity, a bound pair will always form. This is verified by direct numerical simulation of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation and by the derivation of the exact interaction energy of two solitons, which takes the form of a Morse potential. This interaction potential depends not only on the separation but also on the relative phase of the solitons and is essential for an analytical treatment of a host of other problems, such as the soliton gas and the Toda lattice of solitons.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/13/8/085003

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We propose an experiment for forming matter-wave soliton molecules. In the proposed setup, we show that if two solitons are initially prepared in phase and with a sufficiently small separation and relative velocity, a bound pair will always form. This is verified by direct numerical simulation of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation and by the derivation of the exact interaction energy of two solitons, which takes the form of a Morse potential. This interaction potential depends not only on the separation but also on the relative phase of the solitons and is essential for an analytical treatment of a host of other problems, such as the soliton gas and the Toda lattice of solitons.
We consider two-dimensional bright matter-wave solitons in two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates. From the asymptotic form of their wave function, we derive an analytic expression for the force of interaction between solitons in the large separation limit, which turns out to decay with solitons separation Δ as F(Δ)∝exp(-Δ)/√Δ. Simulating the dynamics of two solitons using the relevant Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we obtain the force of the interaction for the full range of Δ, which turns out to be of molecular type. We show that many-soliton molecules can exist as a result of such a molecular-type of interaction. These include string-shaped, ring-shaped, or regular-lattice-shaped soliton molecules. By calculating their binding energy, we investigate the stability of these structures. Contrary to one-dimensional soliton molecules, which have no binding energy, two-dimensional molecules of a lattice of solitons with alternating phases are robust and have a negative binding energy. Lattices of size larger than 2 × 2 solitons have many discrete equilibrium values of the separation between two neighboring solitons.
The existence of stable bound states of three solitons in a Bose-Einstein condensate with nonlocal interactions is demonstrated by means of the variational approach (VA) and numerical simulations. The potential of interaction between solitons derived from VA is shown to be of molecular type, i.e., attractive at long distances and repulsive at short distances. Normal modes of a three-soliton molecule are investigated by computing small amplitude oscillations of individual solitons near their equilibrium positions. Symmetric and asymmetric stretched states of the molecule are prepared and used as initial conditions in numerical simulations of the nonlocal Gross-Pitaevskii equation. As opposed to usual triatomic molecules, we find that the frequency of the asymmetric mode of a three-soliton molecule is smaller than the one of the symmetric mode. Possible experimental settings for the observation of these results are briefly discussed.
Scattering of a matter-wave single soliton and two-soliton molecule incident on the modified Pöschl-Teller potential well has been studied by means of a collective coordinate approach and numerical simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Despite the attractive nature of the potential we observe total reflection of solitons in particular ranges of parameters, which is the signature of quantum behavior displayed by the matter-wave soliton. For other particular sets of parameters unscathed transmission of solitons and molecules through the potential well has been identified. A specific feature of this process is that the soliton passing through the potential well overtakes the freely propagating counterpart; i.e., its mean position appears to have been advanced in time. An array of such potentials makes the "time advance" effect even more pronounced, so that scattered solitons move well ahead of nonscattered ones, fully preserving their initial shape and velocity. A possible application of the obtained results is pointed out.
Two anti-phase bright solitons in a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate can form stable bound states, known as soliton molecules. In this paper we study the scattering of a two- soliton molecule by external potential, using the simplest and analytically tractable Gaussian potential barriers and wells, in one spatial dimension. Theoretical model is based on the variational approximation for the nonlocal Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE). At sufficiently low velocity of the incident molecule we observe quantum reflection from the potential well. Predictions of the mathematical model are compared with numerical simulations of the GPE, and good qualitative agreement between them is demonstrated.
Two anti-phase bright solitons in a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate can form stable bound states, known as soliton molecules. In this paper we study the scattering of a twosoliton molecule by external potential, using the simplest and analytically tractable Gaussian potential barriers and wells, in one spatial dimension. Theoretical model is based on the variational approximation for the nonlocal Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE). At sufficiently low velocity of the incident molecule we observe quantum reflection from the potential well. Predictions of the mathematical model are compared with numerical simulations of the GPE, and good qualitative agreement between them is demonstrated.
The interaction between two bright solitons in a one-dimensional dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is investigated, with the aim of finding the regimes where they form a stable bound state, known as the soliton molecule. To study soliton interactions in BECs we employed a method similar to that used in experimental investigation of the interaction between solitons in optical fibers. The idea consists in creating two solitons at some spatial separation from each other at initial time t0{t}_{0}t0​ and then measuring the distance between them at a later time t1>t0{t}_{1}>{t}_{0}t1​>t0​. Depending on whether the distance between solitons has increased, decreased, or remained unchanged, compared to its initial value at t0{t}_{0}t0​, we conclude that the soliton interaction was repulsive, attractive, or neutral, respectively. We propose an experimentally viable method for estimating the binding energy of a soliton molecule, based on its dissociation at critical soliton velocity. Our theoretical analysis is based on the variational approach, which appears to be quite accurate in describing the properties of soliton molecules in dipolar BECs, as reflected in the good agreement between the analytical and the numerical results.