We study the dynamics of nonlinear localized excitations (‘solitons’) in two-dimensional (2D) Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) with repulsive interactions, loaded into an optical lattice (OL), which is combined with an external parabolic potential. First, we demonstrate analytically that a broad (‘loosely bound’, LB) soliton state, based on a 2D Bloch function near the edge of the Brillouin zone (BZ), has a negative effective mass (while the mass of a localized state is positive near the BZ centre). The negative-mass soliton cannot be held by the usual trap, but it is safely confined by an inverted parabolic potential ( anti-trap ). Direct simulations demonstrate that the LB solitons (including those with intrinsic vorticity) are stable and can freely move on top of the OL. The frequency of the elliptic motion of the LB-soliton's centre in the anti-trapping potential is very close to the analytical prediction which treats the solition as a quasi-particle. In addition, the LB soliton of the vortex type features real rotation around its centre. We also find an abrupt transition, which occurs with the increase of the number of atoms, from the negative-mass LB states to tightly bound (TB) solitons. An estimate demonstrates that for the zero-vorticity states, the transition occurs when the number of atoms attains a critical number N cr ∼ 10 3 , while for the vortex the transition takes place at N cr ∼ 5 × 10 3 atoms. The positive-mass LB states constructed near the BZ centre (including vortices) can also move freely. The effects predicted for BECs also apply to optical spatial solitons in bulk photonic crystals.
We study the dynamics of nonlinear localized excitations (‘solitons’) in two-dimensional (2D) Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) with repulsive interactions, loaded into an optical lattice (OL), which is combined with an external parabolic potential. First, we demonstrate analytically that a broad (‘loosely bound’, LB) soliton state, based on a 2D Bloch function near the edge of the Brillouin zone (BZ), has a negative effective mass (while the mass of a localized state is positive near the BZ centre). The negative-mass soliton cannot be held by the usual trap, but it is safely confined by an inverted parabolic potential ( anti-trap ). Direct simulations demonstrate that the LB solitons (including those with intrinsic vorticity) are stable and can freely move on top of the OL. The frequency of the elliptic motion of the LB-soliton's centre in the anti-trapping potential is very close to the analytical prediction which treats the solition as a quasi-particle. In addition, the LB soliton of the vortex type features real rotation around its centre. We also find an abrupt transition, which occurs with the increase of the number of atoms, from the negative-mass LB states to tightly bound (TB) solitons. An estimate demonstrates that for the zero-vorticity states, the transition occurs when the number of atoms attains a critical number N cr ∼ 10 3 , while for the vortex the transition takes place at N cr ∼ 5 × 10 3 atoms. The positive-mass LB states constructed near the BZ centre (including vortices) can also move freely. The effects predicted for BECs also apply to optical spatial solitons in bulk photonic crystals.
We study the dynamics of one-dimensional solitons in attractive and repulsive Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) loaded into an optical lattice (OL), which is combined with an external parabolic potential. First, we demonstrate analytically that, in the repulsive BEC, where the soliton is of the gap type, its effective mass is negative . This gives rise to a prediction for the experiment: such a soliton cannot be held by the usual parabolic trap, but it can be captured (performing slow harmonic oscillations, with a period that is estimated to be ∼0.01 s in realistic experimental conditions) by an anti-trapping inverted parabolic potential. We also study the motion of the soliton in a long system, concluding that, in the cases of both the positive and negative mass, it moves freely, provided that its amplitude is below a certain critical value; above it, the soliton's velocity decreases due to interaction with the OL. At a later stage, the damped motion becomes chaotic. We also investigate the evolution of a two-soliton pulse in the attractive model. The pulse generates a persistent breather, if its amplitude is not too large; otherwise, fusion into a single fundamental soliton takes place. Collisions between two solitons captured in the parabolic trap or anti-trap are considered too. Depending on their amplitudes and phase difference, the solitons either perform stable oscillations, colliding indefinitely many times, or merge into a single soliton. Effects reported in this work for BECs can also be formulated for optical solitons in nonlinear photonic crystals. In particular, the capture of the negative-mass soliton in the anti-trap implies that a bright optical soliton in a self-defocusing medium with a periodic structure of the refractive index may be stable in an anti-waveguide .
We study the dynamics of one-dimensional solitons in the attractive and repulsive Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) loaded into an optical lattice (OL), which is combined with an external parabolic potential. First, we demonstrate analytically that, in the repulsive BEC, where the soliton is of the gap type, its effective mass is negative. This gives rise to a prediction for the experiment: such a soliton cannot be not held by the usual parabolic trap, but it can be captured (performing harmonic oscillations) by an anti-trapping inverted parabolic potential. We also study the motion of the soliton a in long system, concluding that, in the cases of both the positive and negative mass, it moves freely, provided that its amplitude is below a certain critical value; above it, the soliton’s velocity decreases due to the interaction with the OL. At a late stage, the damped motion becomes chaotic. We also investigate the evolution of a two-soliton pulse in the attractive model. The pulse generates a persistent breather, if its amplitude is not too large; otherwise, fusion into a single fundamental soliton takes place. Collisions between two solitons captured in the parabolic trap or anti-trap are considered too. Depending on their amplitudes and phase difference, the solitons either perform stable oscillations, colliding indefinitely many times, or merge into a single soliton. Effects reported in this work for BECs can also be formulated for optical solitons in nonlinear photonic crystals. In particular, the capture of the negative-mass soliton in the anti-trap implies that a bright optical soliton in a self-defocusing medium with a periodic structure of the refractive index may be stable in an anti-waveguide. 1 1
We investigate the dynamics of vortices in repulsive Bose–Einstein condensates in the presence of an optical lattice (OL) and a parabolic magnetic trap. The dynamics is sensitive to the phase of the OL potential relative to the magnetic trap, and depends less on the OL strength. For the cosinusoidal OL potential, a local minimum is generated at the trap’s centre, creating a stable equilibrium for the vortex, while in the case of the sinusoidal potential, the vortex is expelled from the centre, demonstrating spiral motion. Cases where the vortex is created far from the trap’s centre are also studied, revealing slow outward-spiralling drift. Numerical results are explained in an analytical form by means of a variational approximation. Finally, motivated by a discrete model (which is tantamount to the case of the strong OL lattice), we present a novel type of vortex consisting of two pairs of antiphase solitons.
We demonstrate a possibility to generate localized states in effectively one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates with a negative scattering length in the form of a dark soliton in the presence of an optical lattice (OL) and/or a parabolic magnetic trap. We connect such structures with twisted localized modes (TLMs) that were previously found in the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Families of these structures are found as functions of the OL strength, tightness of the magnetic trap and chemical potential, and their stability regions are identified. Stable bound states of two TLMs are also found. In the case when the TLMs are unstable, their evolution is investigated by means of direct simulations, demonstrating that they transform into large-amplitude fundamental solitons. An analytical approach is also developed, showing that two or several fundamental solitons, with the phase shift π between adjacent ones, may form stable bound states, with parameters quite close to those of the TLMs revealed by simulations. TLM structures are also found numerically and explained analytically in the case when the OL is absent, the condensate being confined only by the magnetic trap.
We analyze numerically the process of dynamical generation of spatially localized vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC's) with repulsive atomic interactions confined by two-dimensional optical lattices. Akin to bright solitons in a repulsive condensate, these nonlinear localized states exist only within the gaps of the matter-wave band-gap spectrum imposed by the periodicity of the lattice potential. We discuss the complex structure of matter-wave phase singularities associated with different types of stationary gap vortices and suggest two different excitation methods. In one method, the condensate is adiabatically driven to the edge of the Brillouin zone where a vortex phase is subsequently imprinted onto the condensate wave packet. Alternatively, a vortex is created in a condensate confined in a harmonic trap and then is nonadiabatically released into the lattice potential. We find that only the latter method leads to robust and reliable generation of vortices within the gap of the matter-wave band-gap spectrum. Moreover, the nonadiabatic excitation can lead to the formation of broad gap vortices from the initial BEC wave packets with a large number of atoms. These broad vortices are intimately connected to self-trapped nonlinear states of the BEC recently demonstrated in experiments with a one-dimensional optical lattice. Our numerical simulations also confirm the feasibility of a homodyne interferometric detection of broad gap vortices.
We consider a two-dimensional (2D) counterpart of the experiment that led to the creation of quasi-1D bright solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) [Nature 417, 150--153 (2002)]. We start by identifying the ground state of the 2D Gross-Pitaevskii equation for repulsive interactions, with a harmonic-oscillator (HO) trap, and with or without an optical lattice (OL). Subsequently, we switch the sign of the interaction to induce interatomic attraction and monitor the ensuing dynamics. Regions of the stable self-trapping and catastrophic collapse of 2D fundamental solitons are identified in the parameter plane of the OL strength and BEC norm. The increase of the OL strength expands the persistence domain for the solitons to larger norms. For single-charged solitary vortices, in addition to the survival and collapse regimes, an intermediate one is identified, where the vortex resists the collapse but loses its structure, transforming into a fundamental soliton. The same setting may also be implemented in the context of optical solitons and vortices, using photonic-crystal fibers.