Interaction effect in a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric Bose-Einstein Condensate
Xiaoling Cui
Abstract
We investigate the ground state and excitation properties of a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein Condensate(BEC) under a parity-time($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetric potential with balanced gain and loss. It is shown that the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry, as preserved by the macroscopic condensate, can be spontaneously broken by its Bogoliubov quasi-particles. The associated $\mathcal{PT}$-breaking transitions in the Bogoliubov spectrum can be conveniently tuned by the interaction anisotropy of BEC and the strength of $\mathcal{PT}$ potential. In the $\mathcal{PT}$-unbroken regime, the real Bogoliubov modes are generally gapped, in contrast to the Hermitian case with gapless phonon mode. Moreover, it is found that the presence of $\mathcal{PT}$ potential can enhance the mean-field collapse and thereby intrigue the droplet formation after incorporating the repulsive force from quantum fluctuations. These remarkable interplay effects of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and interaction can be directly probed in cold atoms experiments, which shed light on intriguing collective phenomena in other non-Hermitian systems with $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry.