Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Formation of Faraday patterns in cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates

Jasper Smits

Published Aug 16, 2013• 2 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The radial trap frequency of an elongated harmonic trap containing a Bose-Einstein condensate is modulated. The free evolution of the condensate fraction is studied using phase-contrast imaging, revealing the dynamics of a single sample over a period of time. Multiple measurement series are combined to study the long-term behavior of samples created under similar experimental conditions. A high-order axial mode, the Faraday pattern, is observed. A simple parametric oscillator model is presented to describe the formation of this axial mode. This model suggests the radial quadrupole mode couples into the high-order axial mode through a parametric resonance. Also, the Faraday pattern is used to determine the speed of sound in the condensate as a function of density. The determined speed of sound deviates up to 20% from the Bogoliubov speed of sound for found densities.

Related papers

Observation of Faraday Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Peter Engels, C. R. Atherton, Mark A. Hoefer

Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed.

Physical Review Letters•Feb 26, 2007•227 citations

Observation of Faraday Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Peter Engels, Collin Atherton, Mark A. Hoefer

Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed.

•Jan 1, 2007•0 citations

Parametric excitations in a harmonically trapped binary Bose-Einstein condensate

Meiling Wang, Juan Wang, Yan Li +2 more

We investigate parametric excitation and pattern formation in a harmonically trapped two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We assume the condensate to be in the miscible phase, but near the miscible-immiscible phase transition, where total-density and spin-density excitations are decoupled. By periodically modulating the atomic scattering lengths, Faraday patterns can be generated in both density and spin channels. In an elongated condensate, the pattern in the spin channel corresponds to a one-dimensional standing wave with the two components exhibiting an out-of-phase density oscillation, where the modulation frequency and the oscillation period are related to the velocity of the spin sound. After the spin pattern is fully developed, the system quickly enters a nonlinear destabilization regime. For a pancake-shaped condensate, a two-dimensional Faraday pattern is generated with an interesting $l$-fold rotational symmetry. The number of nodes along the radial and angular directions increases with larger modulation frequencies. We also compare the growth rates of spin Faraday patterns generated with different modulation protocols, which are accessible to current experiments.

arXiv:2505.17409•Physical Review A•Nov 11, 2025•5 citations

Observation of Faraday Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Peter Engels, Collin Atherton, Mark A. Hoefer

Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed.

arXiv:cond-mat/0701028•Jan 1, 2007•0 citations

Faraday waves in collisionally inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates

Antun Balaž, Remus Paun, Alexandru I. Nicolin +2 more

We study the emergence of Faraday waves in cigar-shaped collisionally inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates subject to periodic modulation of the radial confinement. Considering a Gaussian-shaped radially inhomogeneous scattering length, we show through extensive numerical simulations and detailed variational treatment that the spatial period of the emerging Faraday waves increases as the inhomogeneity of the scattering length gets weaker, and that it saturates once the width of the radial inhomogeneity reaches the radial width of the condensate. In the regime of strongly inhomogeneous scattering lengths, the radial profile of the condensate is akin to that of a hollow cylinder, while in the weakly inhomogeneous case the condensate is cigar shaped and has a Thomas-Fermi radial density profile. Finally, we show that when the frequency of the modulation is close to the radial frequency of the trap, the condensate exhibits resonant waves which are accompanied by a clear excitation of collective modes, while for frequencies close to twice that of the radial frequency of the trap, the observed Faraday waves set in forcefully and quickly destabilize condensates with weakly inhomogeneous two-body interactions.

arXiv:1402.2560•Physical Review A•Feb 11, 2014•39 citations

Spatial and temporal periodic density patterns in driven Bose-Einstein condensates

Alejandra del Río‐Lima, Jorge Amin Seman, Rocío Jáuregui +1 more

The study of collective excitations is a crucial tool for understanding many-body quantum systems. For instance, collective excitations play a central role in the exploration of superfluidity and other quantum macroscopic phenomena in Bose and Fermi systems. In this work we present a variational and a numerical study of a parametrically driven Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a cylindrical harmonic trap in which the aspect ratio can be varied from a prolate (cigar-shaped) to an oblate (pancake-shaped) system. The excitation can be applied by periodically modulating the harmonic frequencies of the trap or alternatively the interatomic interaction strength at a frequency that matches that of the system's breathing mode. As a result, we observe the formation of dynamical density patterns that depend on the geometry of the trap: a fringe pattern in a prolate system and a ring pattern in an oblate one. By decomposing the total energy into its kinetic, potential, and interaction terms, we show that the onset of these patterns coincides with the redistribution of kinetic energy in the weakly trapped directions of the sample, indicating the three-dimensional nature of the studied phenomena. Finally, our analysis shows that the difference between the two excitation mechanisms lies in the system stability. Modulating the trap destabilizes the system quicker than modulating the interactions, leading to earlier formation of the patterns.

arXiv:2502.14849•Physical Review A•Nov 25, 2024•3 citations
The radial trap frequency of an elongated harmonic trap containing a Bose-Einstein condensate is modulated. The free evolution of the condensate fraction is studied using phase-contrast imaging, revealing the dynamics of a single sample over a period of time. Multiple measurement series are combined to study the long-term behavior of samples created under similar experimental conditions. A high-order axial mode, the Faraday pattern, is observed. A simple parametric oscillator model is presented to describe the formation of this axial mode. This model suggests the radial quadrupole mode couples into the high-order axial mode through a parametric resonance. Also, the Faraday pattern is used to determine the speed of sound in the condensate as a function of density. The determined speed of sound deviates up to 20% from the Bogoliubov speed of sound for found densities.
Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed.
Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed.
We investigate parametric excitation and pattern formation in a harmonically trapped two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We assume the condensate to be in the miscible phase, but near the miscible-immiscible phase transition, where total-density and spin-density excitations are decoupled. By periodically modulating the atomic scattering lengths, Faraday patterns can be generated in both density and spin channels. In an elongated condensate, the pattern in the spin channel corresponds to a one-dimensional standing wave with the two components exhibiting an out-of-phase density oscillation, where the modulation frequency and the oscillation period are related to the velocity of the spin sound. After the spin pattern is fully developed, the system quickly enters a nonlinear destabilization regime. For a pancake-shaped condensate, a two-dimensional Faraday pattern is generated with an interesting lll-fold rotational symmetry. The number of nodes along the radial and angular directions increases with larger modulation frequencies. We also compare the growth rates of spin Faraday patterns generated with different modulation protocols, which are accessible to current experiments.
Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed.
We study the emergence of Faraday waves in cigar-shaped collisionally inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates subject to periodic modulation of the radial confinement. Considering a Gaussian-shaped radially inhomogeneous scattering length, we show through extensive numerical simulations and detailed variational treatment that the spatial period of the emerging Faraday waves increases as the inhomogeneity of the scattering length gets weaker, and that it saturates once the width of the radial inhomogeneity reaches the radial width of the condensate. In the regime of strongly inhomogeneous scattering lengths, the radial profile of the condensate is akin to that of a hollow cylinder, while in the weakly inhomogeneous case the condensate is cigar shaped and has a Thomas-Fermi radial density profile. Finally, we show that when the frequency of the modulation is close to the radial frequency of the trap, the condensate exhibits resonant waves which are accompanied by a clear excitation of collective modes, while for frequencies close to twice that of the radial frequency of the trap, the observed Faraday waves set in forcefully and quickly destabilize condensates with weakly inhomogeneous two-body interactions.
The study of collective excitations is a crucial tool for understanding many-body quantum systems. For instance, collective excitations play a central role in the exploration of superfluidity and other quantum macroscopic phenomena in Bose and Fermi systems. In this work we present a variational and a numerical study of a parametrically driven Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a cylindrical harmonic trap in which the aspect ratio can be varied from a prolate (cigar-shaped) to an oblate (pancake-shaped) system. The excitation can be applied by periodically modulating the harmonic frequencies of the trap or alternatively the interatomic interaction strength at a frequency that matches that of the system's breathing mode. As a result, we observe the formation of dynamical density patterns that depend on the geometry of the trap: a fringe pattern in a prolate system and a ring pattern in an oblate one. By decomposing the total energy into its kinetic, potential, and interaction terms, we show that the onset of these patterns coincides with the redistribution of kinetic energy in the weakly trapped directions of the sample, indicating the three-dimensional nature of the studied phenomena. Finally, our analysis shows that the difference between the two excitation mechanisms lies in the system stability. Modulating the trap destabilizes the system quicker than modulating the interactions, leading to earlier formation of the patterns.