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arXiv:2004.04200 · Physical Review A

Creating solitons with controllable and near-zero velocity in Bose-Einstein condensates

A. R. Fritsch, Mingwu Lu, Graham Reid, A. Piñeiro, Ian B. Spielman

Published May 20, 2020• 39 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Established techniques for deterministically creating dark solitons in repulsively interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can only access a narrow range of soliton velocities. Because velocity affects the stability of individual solitons and the properties of soliton-soliton interactions, this technical limitation has hindered experimental progress. Here we create dark solitons in highly anisotropic cigar-shaped BECs with arbitrary position and velocity by simultaneously engineering the amplitude and phase of the condensate wave function, improving upon previous techniques which explicitly manipulated only the condensate phase. The single dark soliton solution present in true one-dimensional (1D) systems corresponds to the kink soliton in anisotropic three-dimensional systems and is joined by a host of additional dark solitons, including vortex ring and solitonic vortex solutions. We readily create dark solitons with speeds from zero to half the sound speed. The observed soliton oscillation frequency suggests that we imprinted solitonic vortices, which for our cigar-shaped system are the only stable solitons expected for these velocities. Our numerical simulations of 1D BECs show this technique to be equally effective for creating kink solitons when they are stable. We demonstrate the utility of this technique by deterministically colliding dark solitons with domain walls in two-component spinor BECs.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.101.053629

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Established techniques for deterministically creating dark solitons in repulsively interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can only access a narrow range of soliton velocities. Because velocity affects the stability of individual solitons and the properties of soliton-soliton interactions, this technical limitation has hindered experimental progress. Here we create dark solitons in highly anisotropic cigar-shaped BECs with arbitrary position and velocity by simultaneously engineering the amplitude and phase of the condensate wave function, improving upon previous techniques which explicitly manipulated only the condensate phase. The single dark soliton solution present in true one-dimensional (1D) systems corresponds to the kink soliton in anisotropic three-dimensional systems and is joined by a host of additional dark solitons, including vortex ring and solitonic vortex solutions. We readily create dark solitons with speeds from zero to half the sound speed. The observed soliton oscillation frequency suggests that we imprinted solitonic vortices, which for our cigar-shaped system are the only stable solitons expected for these velocities. Our numerical simulations of 1D BECs show this technique to be equally effective for creating kink solitons when they are stable. We demonstrate the utility of this technique by deterministically colliding dark solitons with domain walls in two-component spinor BECs.
Summary form only given. Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) of weakly interacting gases allow for the new regime of nonlinear atom optics. Of special interest are macroscopically excited states like dark solitons or vortices. Solitons, as particle like excitations of matter wave fields, provide a link from condensate physics to fluid mechanics, nonlinear optics and fundamental particle physics. Dark solitons in matter waves are characterized by a local density minimum and, a steep phase gradient of the wavefunction at the position of the minimum. We report on experimental and theoretical investigation of dark solitons in BECs of /sup 87/Rb which are produced by the method of phase imprinting. A highly anisotropic confining potential allows us to be close to the (quasi) 1D situation where dark solitons are expected to be dynamically stable. By monitoring the evolution of the density profile we observe the evolution of density minima travelling at a smaller velocity than the speed of sound. By comparison to analytical and numerical solutions of the 3D Gross-Pitaevskii equation for our experimental conditions we identify these density minima to be moving dark solitons. We have studied in detail the creation and the dynamics of dark solitons as a function of evolution time and imprinted phase.
Dilute atomic Bose-Einstein condensates support intriguing macroscopic excitations in the form of quantized vortices and dark solitons. In this thesis we present extensive quantitative studies of the dynamics of these phenomena in the limit of zero temperature, performed by numerical simulation of the Gross- Pitaevskii equation. We show that vortices and dark solitons are inherently unstable to acceleration through the condensate, leading to the emission of sound waves. Indeed, for a single vortex/soliton, the power emitted is proportional to the square of the local acceleration. However, due to the finite size of the condensate, the vortex/soliton reinteracts with the emitted sound. This coupling has an important effect on the ensuing dynamics, and we illustrate how it can be engineered to induce net decay, stabilise, or even drive energy into the vortex/soliton. Under the harmonic confinement typically employed to trap the condensates, the acceleration-induced decay is stabilised by reabsorption of the emitted sound. However, by modifying the trap geometry, e.g. by adding an inner dimple in which the soliton resides or an optical lattice potential, it is possible to break this equilibrium and so induce a net decay of the vortex/soliton in a controllable manner. The decay rate can be considerable and should be observable under current experimental conditions. The dynamical stability of quantized vortices is also relevant to the field of turbulence in superfluid Helium, where the motion of the vortices is induced by the surrounding distribution of vortices rather than density. We extend these results to this field, and additionally consider the interactions between two and three vortices, which are also found to involve sound emission. By exciting the sound field of the condensate it is possible to drive parametrically energy into a dark soliton. In a real dissipative environment, this can be used to stabilise the soliton decay. Finally, we illustrate the links between dark solitons and vortices: a dark soliton embedded in a three-dimensional system is prone to decay into vortex rings, while a vortex in a quasi-one-dimensional geometry cannot be supported and exists as a hybrid between a vortex and dark soliton, known as a solitonic vortex.
We demonstrate robust, stable, mobile, quasi-one-dimensional, dark-in-bright dipolar Bose-Einstein-condensate (BEC) solitons with a notch in the central plane formed due to dipolar interaction for repulsive contact interaction. At medium velocity the head-on collision of two such solitons is found to be quasielastic with practically no deformation. A proposal for creating dipolar dark-in-bright solitons in laboratories by phase imprinting is also discussed. A rich variety of such solitons can be formed in dipolar binary BECs, where one can have a dark-in-bright soliton coupled to a bright soliton or two coupled dark-in-bright solitons. The findings are illustrated using numerical simulation in three spatial dimensions by employing realistic interaction parameters for a dipolar 164{}^{164}164Dy BEC and a binary 164{}^{164}164Dy-162{}^{162}162Dy BEC.
Abstract We study the statics and dynamics of anisotropic, stable, bright and dark-in-bright dipolar quasi-two-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) solitons on a one-dimensional (1D) optical-lattice (OL) potential. These solitons mobile in a plane perpendicular to a 1D OL trap can have both repulsive and attractive contact interactions. Dark-in-bright solitons are the excited states of bright solitons. The solitons, when subjected to a small perturbation, exhibit sustained breathing oscillation. Dark-in-bright solitons can be created by phase imprinting a bright soliton. At medium velocities the collision between two solitons is found to be quasi-elastic. Results are demonstrated by a numerical simulation of the three-dimensional mean-field Gross–Pitaevskii equation in three spatial dimensions employing realistic interaction parameters for a dipolar 164 Dy BEC.
Abstract We demonstrate robust, stable, mobile two-dimensional (2D) dipolar ring-dark-in-bright (RDB) Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) solitons for repulsive contact interaction, subject to a harmonic trap along the y direction perpendicular to the polarisation direction z . Such a RDB soliton has a ring-shaped notch (zero in density) imprinted on a 2D bright soliton free to move in the x − z plane. At medium velocity the head-on collision of two such solitons is found to be quasi-elastic with practically no deformation. The possibility of creating the RDB soliton by phase imprinting is demonstrated. The findings are illustrated using numerical simulation employing realistic interaction parameters in a dipolar 164 Dy BEC.
We present a widely accessible and experimentally realizable technique for the controlled creation of dark-bright solitons and soliton lattices in one-dimensional atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. The method is based on preparing the condensate in a dark state of a ΛΛΛ-coupled three-level system. Numerical simulations of the corresponding two-component system reveal that individual dark-bright solitons created through this scheme can survive over experimentally accessible timescales, even when the coupling laser fields are switched off. Meanwhile, the fate of soliton lattices upon the quench of the fields depends on the scattering lengths. When they are all equal, the lattice is found to persist on timescales comparable to the condensate lifetime, even though the analysis of dynamical stability reveals that they possess unstable modes. In this case the resulting destabilization is not found to be detrimental, as it leads to recurrent dynamics. However, for unequal scattering lengths the lattice structure gets destroyed once the instability sets in, which happens after a few tens of milliseconds after the quench of the optical fields.