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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Mean-field theory of an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate

S. Geltman

Published Dec 17, 2003• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Mean-field theory for an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate is re-examined and two new boundary conditions are introduced that take account of the impenetrability of the atomic cores. The dominant part of the resulting effective atom–atom interaction arises from the attractive part of the potential and it is seen to differ substantially from that (proportional to the scattering length) used in Gross–Pitaevskii theory. This difference is described in detail for the case of a 'hard-sphere plus attractive square-well' model potential. The consequences of the new interaction in the quantum dynamics of a rubidium condensate are studied and it is shown that, while a stable stationary S state does not exist, the condensate is contained in its trap in a state of quasi-equilibrium with small rapid variations in space and time.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/37/2/002

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Mean-field theory for an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate is re-examined and two new boundary conditions are introduced that take account of the impenetrability of the atomic cores. The dominant part of the resulting effective atom–atom interaction arises from the attractive part of the potential and it is seen to differ substantially from that (proportional to the scattering length) used in Gross–Pitaevskii theory. This difference is described in detail for the case of a 'hard-sphere plus attractive square-well' model potential. The consequences of the new interaction in the quantum dynamics of a rubidium condensate are studied and it is shown that, while a stable stationary S state does not exist, the condensate is contained in its trap in a state of quasi-equilibrium with small rapid variations in space and time.
Amplifying on a proposal by O'Dell et al. for the realization of Bose-Einstein condensates of neutral atoms with attractive 1∕r1∕r1∕r interaction, we point out that the instance of self-trapping of the condensate, without an external trap potential, is physically best understood by introducing appropriate ``atomic'' units. This reveals a remarkable scaling property: the physics of the condensate depends only on the two parameters N2a∕au{N}^{2}a∕{a}_{u}N2a∕au​ and $\ensuremath{\gamma}∕{N}^{2}$, where NNN is the particle number, aaa the scattering length, au{a}_{u}au​ the ``Bohr'' radius, and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ the trap frequency in atomic units. We calculate accurate numerical results for self-trapping wave functions and potentials, and for energies, sizes, and peak densities, and compare with previous variational results. We point out the existence of a second solution of the extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation for negative scattering lengths, with and without trapping potential, which is born together with the ground state in a tangent bifurcation. This indicates the existence of an unstable collectively excited state of the condensate for negative scattering lengths.
We perform numerical simulations based on the time-dependent mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation to understand some aspects of a recent experiment by Donley et al. [Nature (London) 412, 295 (2001)] on the dynamics of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates of 85Rb{}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb atoms. These authors manipulated the atomic interaction by an external magnetic field via a Feshbach resonance, thus changing the repulsive condensate into an attractive one, and vice versa. In the actual experiment they suddenly changed the scattering length of atomic interaction from a positive to a large negative value on a preformed condensate in an axially symmetric trap. Consequently, the condensate collapsed and ejected atoms via explosion. We find that the present mean-field analysis can explain some aspects of the dynamics of the collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates.
We study the quantum and the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate gas confined in a toroidal trap. According to GP, if the interatomic interaction is attractive, the rotational states of the system can be dynamically stable or unstable depending on the strength of the mean-field energy. The full quantum analysis, however, reveals that the condensate is always unstable. Quantum fluctuations are particularly important close to the GP stability borderline, even for systems with a relatively large number of condensate atoms.
The nature of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in atomic vapours depends critically on the mean-field interaction of the atoms. When this interaction is attractive, the number of atoms in the condensate is limited. The interplay of this limit and the natural growth of the condensate during BEC leads to complicated dynamical behaviour. We develop a model for this behaviour based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation and the quantum Boltzmann equation. The condensate occupation number is predicted to oscillate rapidly as the condensate alternately fills and collapses, and the oscillations are seen to persist for many cycles before the gas comes to equilibrium. Experimental evidence for these oscillations in the case of 7 Li is presented, along with details of the experimental apparatus and methods.
The dynamics of a nonconservative Gross-Pitaevskii equation for trapped atomic systems with attractive two-body interaction is numerically investigated, considering wide variations of the nonconservative parameters, related to atomic feeding and dissipation. We study the possible limitations of the mean-field description for an atomic condensate with attractive two-body interaction, by defining the parameter regions, where stable or unstable formation can be found. The present study is useful and timely considering the possibility of large variations of attractive two-body scattering lengths, which may be feasible in recent experiments.
Beyond the mean-field theory, a new model of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE) that describes the dynamics of Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) is derived using an appropriate phase-imprint on the old wavefunction. This modified version of the GPE in addition to the two-body interactions term, also takes into account effects of the three-body interactions. The three-body interactions consist of a quintic term and the delayed nonlinear response of the condensate system term. Then, the modulational instability (MI) of the new GPE confined in an attractive harmonic potential is investigated. The analytical study shows that the three-body interactions destabilize more the condensate system while the external potential alleviates the instability. Numerical results confirm the theoretical predictions. Further numerical investigations of the behavior of solitons reveal that the three-body interactions enhance the appearance of solitons, increase the number of solitons generated and deeply change the lifetime of solitons. Moreover, the external potential delays the appearance of solitons. Besides, a new initial condition is introduced which enables to increase the number of solitons created and deeply affects the trail of chains of solitons generated. Moreover, the MI of a condensate without the external potential, and in a repulsive potential is also investigated.