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Physical Review Letters

Collisions of Dark Solitons in Elongated Bose-Einstein Condensates

Simon Stellmer, C. Becker, Parvis Soltan-Panahi, Eva-Maria Richter, Sören Dörscher, Mathis Baumert, Jochen Kronjäger, Kai Bongs, K. Sengstock

Published Sep 19, 2008• 186 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present experimental data showing the head-on collision of dark solitons generated in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate. No discernable interaction can be recorded, in full agreement with the fundamental theoretical concepts of solitons as mutually transparent quasiparticles. Our soliton generation technique allows for the creation of solitons with different depths; hence, they can be distinguished and their trajectories be followed. Simulations of the 1D-Gross-Pitaevskii equation have been performed to compare the experiment with a mean-field description.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.101.120406

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We present experimental data showing the head-on collision of dark solitons generated in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate. No discernable interaction can be recorded, in full agreement with the fundamental theoretical concepts of solitons as mutually transparent quasiparticles. Our soliton generation technique allows for the creation of solitons with different depths; hence, they can be distinguished and their trajectories be followed. Simulations of the 1D-Gross-Pitaevskii equation have been performed to compare the experiment with a mean-field description.
During the last decade the physics of ultracold quantum gases has matured into a highly active and versatile field of research. Experiments dedicated to the physics of Bose-Einstein condensates have been performed and diverse phenomena, which are distinguished by fundamentally different regimes of interaction, can be investigated. Particularly solitons, characterized as non-spreading wavepackets, are stabilized against dispersion by a suitable non-linear interaction and can propagate in a condensate[1,2]. In the present work the dynamical evolution of long-lived dark solitons has been studied as a paradigm of non-linear physics for the first time. We have been able to observe oscillations of dark solitons in elongated Bose-Einstein condensates and good agreement with the theoretically predicted oscillation frequency of ω/√2 has been obtained [1]. Moreover the results of detailed studies of the collision of two dark solitons distinguished by different depths are presented. This particular feature enables the identification of the individual solitons beyond the actual collision process and as a central result we show shown that these peculiar entities interpenetrate without significantly influencing each other [3]. The theoretical description of solitons as weakly interacting quasi particles is in good agreement with these findings. Continuative studies on vectorial “dark-bright” solitons and their dynamical properties complement the investigations on dark solitons.
Abstract: In this thesis we experimentally observe the dynamics of dark solitons in elongated Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in the crossover regime between 1D and 3D. Dark solitons are dynamically stable in this regime. This allows the observation of the collisional and oscillational dynamics of two dark solitons in a harmonically confined BEC over several oscillation periods. We can detect the repulsive intersolitonic interaction as an increase of the oscillation frequency of the two solitons strongly depending on their mean distance. Thereby we give the first experimental evidence of the theoretically predicted repulsive interaction between the solitons. We compare our experimental findings to numerical simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and effective 1D equations. Additionally we develop a model in which the solitons are approximated by repulsively interacting classical particles. This model is based on a soliton interaction potential suggested by [Kiv1995] and can describe the essentials of the soliton dynamics. We observe well agreement between the soliton oscillation frequencies measured in the experiment, the numerical simulations and the results of the particle model. Besides we verify the theoretical prediction that the oscillation frequency of dark solitons in a harmonically confined BEC should be slower than the trap frequency.
The dynamics of a dark soliton in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate is studied at finite temperatures. In addition to accurately reproducing all stages of the decay of the soliton observed in the experiment of Burger et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 5198 (1999)], our numerical simulations reveal the existence of an experimentally accessible parameter regime for which phase-imprinted dark solitons can execute at least one full axial oscillation prior to their decay. The dependence of the decay time scale on temperature and initial soliton depth is analyzed and the role of interatomic collisions quantified.
The dynamics of a dark soliton in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate is studied at finite temperatures. In addition to accurately reproducing all stages of the decay of the soliton observed in the experiment of Burger [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 5198 (1999)], our numerical simulations reveal the existence of an experimentally accessible parameter regime for which phase-imprinted dark solitons can execute at least one full axial oscillation prior to their decay. The dependence of the decay time scale on temperature and initial soliton depth is analyzed and the role of interatomic collisions quantified. © 2007 The American Physical Society.
The dissipative dynamic stability is investigated of dark solitons in elongated Bose–Einstein condensates that can be described by the Gross–Pitaevskii equation including an additional term. Based on the direct perturbation theory for the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, the dependence of the soliton velocity on time is explicitly given, and the shape of dark solitons remaining unchanged under the dissipative condition is confirmed theoretically for the first time. It is found that the dynamically stable dark solitons turn out to be thermodynamically unstable.