Tunnelling induced collapse of an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate in a double-well potential
E Sakellari, Nick P. Proukakis, Charles S. Adams
The stability of a low temperature Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interactions in one and three dimensional double-well potentials is discussed. In particular, the tunnelling dynamics of a condensate under the influence of a time-dependent potential gradient is investigated. The condensate is shown to collapse at a critical potential gradient which corresponds to a critical number of atoms in one of the two wells. The sensitivity of this tunnelling induced collapse could provide a useful tool in the study of condensates with attractive interactions.
arXiv:cond-mat/0407634•Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Sep 15, 2004•12 citations