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Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

The symmetry breaking states and bifurcation of Bose–Einstein condensates in a double well

XinYan Jia, Weidong Li, Hiroshi Ezawa

Published May 22, 2007• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

An analytical approximation method to clarify the symmetry-breaking stationary solutions to the Gross–Pitaevskii equation with symmetric double-well external potential is presented. By this method, we can understand that each symmetry-breaking solution bifurcates from a symmetry-preserving solution as one varies the coupling constant of the nonlinear interaction, and predict the bifurcation point. Also, the method gives a good approximation to the energy eigenvalues of the lower states, symmetry-breaking as well as symmetry-preserving, as long as the nonlinear interaction is not too strong.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/40/23/002

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An analytical approximation method to clarify the symmetry-breaking stationary solutions to the Gross–Pitaevskii equation with symmetric double-well external potential is presented. By this method, we can understand that each symmetry-breaking solution bifurcates from a symmetry-preserving solution as one varies the coupling constant of the nonlinear interaction, and predict the bifurcation point. Also, the method gives a good approximation to the energy eigenvalues of the lower states, symmetry-breaking as well as symmetry-preserving, as long as the nonlinear interaction is not too strong.
We present analytical stationary solutions for the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BECs) trapped in a double-well potential. These solutions are compared to those described by [Mahmud et al., Phys. Rev. A 66, 063607 (2002)]. In particular, we provide further evidence that symmetry preserving stationary solutions can be reduced to the eigenstates of the corresponding linear Schr\"odinger equation. Moreover, we have found that the symmetry-breaking solutions can emerge not only from bifurcations, but also from isolated points in the chemical potential--nonlinear interaction diagram. We also have found that there are some moving nodes in the symmetry-breaking solutions.
Eigenvalue structure of a Bose–Einstein condensate in a PT\mathcal {PT}PT-symmetric double well
We study a Bose–Einstein condensate in a -symmetric double-well potential where particles are coherently injected in one well and removed from the other well. In mean-field approximation the condensate is described by the Gross–Pitaevskii equation thus falling into the category of nonlinear non-Hermitian quantum systems. After extending the concept of symmetry to such systems, we apply an analytic continuation to the Gross–Pitaevskii equation from complex to bicomplex numbers and show a thorough numerical investigation of the four-dimensional bicomplex eigenvalue spectrum. The continuation introduces additional symmetries to the system which are confirmed by the numerical calculations and furthermore allows us to analyse the bifurcation scenarios and exceptional points of the system. We present a linear matrix model and show the excellent agreement with our numerical results. The matrix model includes both exceptional points found in the double-well potential, namely an EP2 at the tangent bifurcation and an EP3 at the pitchfork bifurcation. When the two bifurcation points coincide the matrix model possesses four degenerate eigenvectors. Close to that point we observe the characteristic features of four interacting modes in both the matrix model and the numerical calculations, which provides clear evidence for the existence of an EP4.
We treat the behavior of Bose-Einstein condensates in double square well potentials of both equal and different depths. For even depth, symmetry preserving solutions to the relevant nonlinear Schrödinger equation are known, just as in the linear limit. When the nonlinearity is strong enough, symmetry breaking solutions also exist, side by side with the symmetric one. Interestingly, solutions almost entirely localized in one of the wells are known as an extreme case. Here we outline a method for obtaining all these solutions for repulsive interactions. The bifurcation point at which, for critical nonlinearity, the asymmetric solutions branch off from the symmetry preserving ones is found analytically. We also find this bifurcation point and treat the solutions generally via a Josephson junction model. When the confining potential is in the form of two wells of different depth, interesting phenomena appear. This is true of both the occurrence of the bifurcation point for the static solutions and also of the dynamics of phase and amplitude varying solutions. Again a generalization of the Josephson model proves useful. The stability of solutions is treated briefly.
We investigate the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a Bose-Einstein condensate in a PT symmetric double-well potential by means of the time-dependent variational principle and numerically exact solutions. A one-dimensional and a fully three-dimensional setup are used. Stationary states are determined and the propagation of wave function is investigated using the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Due to the nonlinearity of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation the potential dependson the wave function and its solutions decide whether or not the Hamiltonian itself is PT symmetric. Stationary solutions with real energy eigenvalues fulfilling exact PT symmetry are found as well as PT broken eigenstates with complex energies. The latter describe decaying or growing probability amplitudes and are not true stationary solutions of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. However, they still provide qualitative information about the time evolution of the wave functions.
A Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a double-well potential, where atoms are incoupled to one side and extracted from the other, can in the mean-field limit be described by the nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with a PT symmetric external potential. If the strength of the in- and outcoupling is increased two PT broken states bifurcate from the PT symmetric ground state. At this bifurcation point a stability change of the ground state is expected. However, it is observed that this stability change does not occur exactly at the bifurcation but at a slightly different strength of the in-/outcoupling effect. We investigate a Bose-Einstein condensate in a PT symmetric double-δ potential and calculate the stationary states. The ground state’s stability is analysed by means of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations and it is shown that the difference in the strength of the in-/outcoupling between the bifurcation and the stability change can be completely explained by the norm-dependency of the nonlinear term in the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
Abstract We investigate the bifurcation structure of stationary states in a dipolar Bose–Einstein condensate located in an external   -symmetric potential. The imaginary part of this external potential allows for the effective description of in- and outcoupling of particles. To unveil the complete bifurcation structure and the properties of the exceptional points we perform an analytical continuation of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation, which is used to describe the system. We use an elegant and numerically efficient method for the analytical continuation of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation with dipolar interactions containing bicomplex numbers. The Bose–Einstein condensate with dipole interaction shows a much richer bifurcation scenario than a condensate without long-range interactions. The inclusion of analytically continued states can also explain property changes of bifurcation points which were hidden before, and allows for the examination of the properties of the exceptional points associated with the branch points. With the new analytically continued states we are able to prove the existence of an exceptional point of fifth order.