We analyze the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates loaded in rotating ring lattices made of a few sites, and show how rotation maps the states found in this finite system onto those belonging to a static infinite lattice. Ring currents and soliton states in the absence of a lattice find their continuation in the presence of the lattice as nonlinear Bloch waves and soliton-like states connecting them. Both bright gap solitons and dark-soliton trains are shown to connect continuously to linear solutions. The existence of adiabatic paths upon varying rotation frequency between states with quantized supercurrents suggests highly controllable methods for the experimental generation of persistent currents.
We analyze the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates loaded in rotating ring lattices made of a few sites, and show how rotation maps the states found in this finite system onto those belonging to a static infinite lattice. Ring currents and soliton states in the absence of a lattice find their continuation in the presence of the lattice as nonlinear Bloch waves and soliton-like states connecting them. Both bright gap solitons and dark-soliton trains are shown to connect continuously to linear solutions. The existence of adiabatic paths upon varying rotation frequency between states with quantized supercurrents suggests highly controllable methods for the experimental generation of persistent currents.
We show how the chiral properties of Bose-Einstein condensates subject to current-density interactions and loaded in optical lattices can be observed in the realization of nonlinear Bloch states, whose spectrum lacks the usual periodic structure. Chirality is also manifested by spatially localized states, or gap solitons, which are found for positive rotation rates of the lattice at the energy gaps between the linear energy bands, whereas for negative rotations they appear in the semi-infinite gap of the linear spectrum. The stability of extended and localized states is checked through the spectrum of linear excitations and nonlinear time evolution of perturbed states, and the phenomenon of Bloch oscillations is explored. Our results are obtained in quasi-one-dimensional ring geometries with feasible experimental parameters.
The dynamics of localized excitations in an array of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) is investigated in the framework of the nonlinear lattice theory. The existence of temporarily stable ground states displaying an atomic population distribution localized on very few lattice sites (intrinsic localized modes), as well as atomic population distributions involving many lattice sites (envelope solitons), is studied both numerically and analytically. The origin and properties of these modes are shown to be inherently connected with the interplay between macroscopic quantum tunneling and nonlinearity-induced self-trapping of atoms in coupled BECs. The phenomenon of Bloch oscillations of these excitations is studied both for zero and nonzero backgrounds. We find that in a definite range of parameters, homogeneous distributions can become modulationally unstable. We also show that bright solitons and excitations of shock-wave type can exist in BEC arrays even in the case of positive scattering length. Finally, we argue that a BEC array with negative scattering length in the presence of linear potentials can display collapse.
We analyze the existence and stability of spatially extended (Bloch-type) and localized states of a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded into an optical lattice. In the framework of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a periodic potential, we study the band-gap structure of the matter-wave spectrum in both the linear and nonlinear regimes. We demonstrate the existence of families of spatially localized matter-wave gap solitons, and analyze their stability in different band gaps, for both repulsive and attractive atomic interactions.
Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) exhibits a variety of fascinating and unexpected macroscopic phenomena, and has attracted sustained attention in recent years—particularly in the field of solitons and associated nonlinear phenomena. Meanwhile, optical lattices have emerged as a versatile toolbox for understanding the properties and controlling the dynamics of BEC, among which the realization of bright gap solitons is an iconic result. However, the dark gap solitons are still experimentally unproven, and their properties in more than one dimension remain unknown. In light of this, we describe, numerically and theoretically, the formation and stability properties of gap-type dark localized modes in the context of ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices. Two kinds of stable dark localized modes—gap solitons and soliton clusters—are predicted in both the one- and two-dimensional geometries. The vortical counterparts of both modes are also constructed in two dimensions. A unique feature is the existence of a nonlinear Bloch-wave background on which all above gap modes are situated. By employing linear-stability analysis and direct simulations, stability regions of the predicted modes are obtained. Our results offer the possibility of observing dark gap localized structures with cutting-edge techniques in ultracold atoms experiments and beyond, including in optics with photonic crystals and lattices.
We investigate solitons and nonlinear Bloch waves in Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in optical lattices (OLs). By introducing specially designed localized profiles of the spatial modulation of the attractive nonlinearity, we construct an infinite set of exact soliton solutions in terms of Mathieu and elliptic functions, with the chemical potential belonging to the semi-infinite gap of the OL-induced spectrum. Starting from the particular exact solutions, we employ the relaxation method to construct generic families of soliton solutions in a numerical form. The stability of the solitons is investigated through the computation of the eigenvalues for small perturbations, and also by direct simulations. Finally, we demonstrate a virtually exact (in the numerical sense) composition relation between nonlinear Bloch waves and solitons.
We analyze the nucleation of persistent currents in Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold gases confined in a ring. This phenomenon has been recently investigated in an experiment [S. Eckel, J. G. Lee, F. Jendrzejewski, N. Murray, C. W. Clark, C. J. Lobb, W. D. Phillips, M. Edwards, and G. K. Campbell, Nature (London) 506, 200 (2014)], where hysteresis loops have been observed in the activation of quantized persistent currents by rotating weak links. In this work, we demonstrate the existence of three-dimensional stationary currents with nonquantized angular momentum. They are generated by families of solitary waves that exhibit a continuous variation in the angular momentum and provide a bridge between different winding numbers. We show that the size of hysteresis loops is determined by the range of existence within the weak link region of solitary waves which configure the energy barrier preventing phase slips. The barrier vanishes when the critical rotation leads winding number and solitonic states to a matching configuration. At this point, Landau and Feynman criteria for phase slips meet: the fluid flow reaches the local speed of sound, and stationary vortex lines (which are the building blocks of multidimensional solitons) can be excited inside the system.