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arXiv:2303.00797 · Physical Review A

Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a phase-separated three-component Bose-Einstein condensate

Arpana Saboo, Soumyadeep Halder, Subrata Das, Sonjoy Majumder

Published Jul 28, 2023• 9 citations

Abstract

Three-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) offer a rich platform for exploring inquisitive quantum phenomena. We investigate the Rayleigh-Taylor instability at the two interfaces in a phase-separated three-component BEC in the mean-field framework. The instability in the system can be instigated in various ways owing to the versatility of the three-component system and the subsequent dynamics for certain cases has been studied in detail. We also study the impact of immiscibility of the intermediate component on the onset of instability in the system. The rotational symmetry of the system breaks when the atom-atom interaction is tuned in such a way that the interface between the components becomes unstable giving rise to nonlinear patterns of mushroom shapes which grow exponentially with time. We identify these nonlinear patterns as the solutions of the angular Mathieu equation, representing the normal modes.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.108.013320

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We examine the generation and subsequent evolution of Rayleigh Taylor instability in anisotropic binary Bose-Einstein condensates. Considering a pancake-shaped geometry, to initiate the instability we tune the intraspecies interaction and analytically study the normal modes of the interface in elliptic cylindrical coordinates. The normal modes are then Mathieu functions and undergoes bifurcation at particular values of anisotropy and ratio of number of atoms. We find that the analytical estimates of the bifurcation parameters are in good agreement with the numerical results.

Instabilities, where small fluctuations seed the formation of large-scale structures, govern dynamics in a variety of fluid systems. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI), present from tabletop to astronomical scales, is an iconic example characterized by mushroom-shaped incursions appearing when immiscible fluids are forced together. Despite its ubiquity, RTI experiments are challenging; here, we report the observation of the RTI in an immiscible binary superfluid consisting of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We force these components together to initiate the instability, and observe the growth of mushroom-like structures. The interface can also be stabilized, allowing us to spectroscopically measure the "ripplon" interface modes. Last, we use matter-wave interferometry to transform the superfluid velocity field at the interface into a vortex chain. These results-in agreement with our theory-demonstrate the close connection between the RTI in classical and quantum fluids.

We show how a two dimensional Bose-Einstein Condensate trapped in a nonequilibrium state can be driven into the Rayleigh-Taylor instability if an outward in-plane force is exerted on it. If the condensate is inside a semiconductor, the above force could arise from an inhomogeneous strain applied on the host semiconductor crystal. On the other hand, for a BEC of alkali atoms, the force could be exerted by an inhomogeneous magnetic field turned on after the BEC has been released from its magnetic trap. During its expansion, the condensate will break into droplets each a separate BEC. Therefore, one can create BEC droplets out of a single large BEC and study the coherence properties of the droplets with respect to each other. The discussion on the linear onset of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a BEC is generalized to three dimensions.

We study the normal modes and the stability of two component condensates in a phase separated regime. In such a regime, the system can undergo a quantum phase-transition upon the change of interaction strength between bosons of the same species or the variation of the trap frequencies. In this transition, the distribution of the two components changes from a symmetric to an asymmetric shape. We discuss the nature of the phase transition, the role of the interface tension, and the phase diagram. The symmetric to asymmetric transition is the simplest quantum phase transition that one can imagine. We found new branches of normal modes which are specific for trapped multicomponent condensates and are analogous to the waves at the interface between two layers of immiscible fluids under gravity. At the point of the phase transition, the frequencies of those modes go to 0 and become imaginary which causes an instability. The interface tension shifts the normal-mode frequencies and changes the stability region of the system.