We consider a model of Bose-Einstein condensates which combines a stationary optical lattice (OL) and periodic change of the sign of the scattering length (SL) due to the Feshbach-resonance management. Ordinary solitons and ones of the gap type being possible, respectively, in the model with constant negative and positive SL, an issue of interest is to find solitons alternating, in the case of the low-frequency modulation, between shapes of both types, across the zero-SL point. We find such \textit{alternate solitons} and identify their stability regions in the 2D and 1D models. Three types of the dynamical regimes are distinguished: stable, unstable, and semi-stable. In the latter case, the soliton sheds off a conspicuous part of its initial norm before relaxing to a stable regime. In the 2D case, the threshold (minimum number of atoms) necessary for the existence of the alternate solitons is essentially higher than its counterparts for the ordinary and gap solitons in the static model. In the 1D model, the alternate solitons are also found only above a certain threshold, while the static 1D models have no threshold. In the 1D case, stable antisymmetric alternate solitons are found too. Additionally, we consider a possibility to apply the variational approximation (VA) to the description of stationary gap solitons, in the case of constant positive SL. It predicts the solitons in the first finite bandgap very accurately, and does it reasonably well in the second gap too. In higher bands, the VA predicts a border between tightly and loosely bound solitons.
We consider a model of Bose-Einstein condensates which combines a stationary optical lattice (OL) and periodic change of the sign of the scattering length (SL) due to the Feshbach-resonance management. Ordinary solitons and ones of the gap type being possible, respectively, in the model with constant negative and positive SL, an issue of interest is to find solitons alternating, in the case of the low-frequency modulation, between shapes of both types, across the zero-SL point. We find such \textit{alternate solitons} and identify their stability regions in the 2D and 1D models. Three types of the dynamical regimes are distinguished: stable, unstable, and semi-stable. In the latter case, the soliton sheds off a conspicuous part of its initial norm before relaxing to a stable regime. In the 2D case, the threshold (minimum number of atoms) necessary for the existence of the alternate solitons is essentially higher than its counterparts for the ordinary and gap solitons in the static model. In the 1D model, the alternate solitons are also found only above a certain threshold, while the static 1D models have no threshold. In the 1D case, stable antisymmetric alternate solitons are found too. Additionally, we consider a possibility to apply the variational approximation (VA) to the description of stationary gap solitons, in the case of constant positive SL. It predicts the solitons in the first finite bandgap very accurately, and does it reasonably well in the second gap too. In higher bands, the VA predicts a border between tightly and loosely bound solitons.
We consider a model of Bose–Einstein condensates, which combines a stationary optical lattice (OL) and periodic change of the sign of the scattering length (SL) due to the Feshbach‐resonance management. Ordinary solitons and ones of the gap type being possible, respectively, in the model with constant negative and positive SL, an issue of interest is to find solitons alternating, in the case of the low‐frequency modulation, between shapes of both types, across the zero‐SL point. We find such alternate solitons and identify their stability regions in the 2D and 1D models. Three types of the dynamical regimes are distinguished: stable, unstable, and semi‐stable. In the latter case, the soliton sheds off a conspicuous part of its initial norm before relaxing to a stable regime. In the 2D case, the threshold (minimum number of atoms) necessary for the existence of the alternate solitons is essentially higher than its counterparts for the ordinary and gap solitons in the static model. In the 1D model, the alternate solitons are also found only above a certain threshold, while the static 1D models have no threshold. In the 1D case, stable antisymmetric alternate solitons are found too. Additionally, we consider a possibility to apply the variational approximation (VA) to the description of stationary gap solitons, in the case of constant positive SL. It predicts the solitons in the first finite bandgap very accurately, and does it reasonably well in the second gap too. In higher bands, the VA predicts a border between tightly and loosely bound solitons.
We introduce a dynamical model of a Bose-Einstein condensate based on the one-dimensional (1D) Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with a nonlinear optical lattice (NOL), which is represented by the cubic term whose coefficient is periodically modulated in the coordinate. The model describes a situation when the atomic scattering length is spatially modulated, via the optically controlled Feshbach resonance, in an optical lattice created by interference of two laser beams. Relatively narrow solitons supported by the NOL are predicted by means of the variational approximation (VA), and an averaging method is applied to broad solitons. A different feature is a minimum norm (number of atoms), N = N(min), necessary for the existence of solitons. The VA predicts N(min) very accurately. Numerical results are chiefly presented for the NOL with the zero spatial average value of the nonlinearity coefficient. Solitons with values of the amplitude A larger than at N = N(min) are stable. Unstable solitons with smaller, but not too small, A rearrange themselves into persistent breathers. For still smaller A, the soliton slowly decays into radiation without forming a breather. Broad solitons with very small A are practically stable, as their decay is extremely slow. These broad solitons may freely move across the lattice, featuring quasielastic collisions. Narrow solitons, which are strongly pinned to the NOL, can easily form stable complexes. Finally, the weakly unstable low-amplitude solitons are stabilized if a cubic term with a constant coefficient, corresponding to weak attraction, is included in the GPE.
By means of the variational approximation (VA) and systematic simulations, we study dynamics and stability boundaries for solitons in a two-dimensional (2D) self-attracting Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), trapped in an optical lattice (OL) whose amplitude is subjected to periodic time modulation (the modulation frequency $\ensuremath{\omega}$ may be in the range of several kHz). Regions of stability of the solitons against the collapse and decay are identified in the space of the model's parameters. A noteworthy result is that the stability limit may reach the largest (100%) modulation depth, and the collapse threshold may exceed its classical value in the static lattice (which corresponds to the norm of Townes soliton). The minimum norm Nmin necessary for the stability of the solitons is identified too. It features a strong dependence on $\ensuremath{\omega}$ at low frequencies, due to a resonant decay of the soliton. Predictions of the VA are reasonably close to results of the simulations. In particular, the VA helps understand salient resonant features in the shape of the stability boundaries observed with the variation of $\ensuremath{\omega}$.
We propose an experimentally relevant scheme to create stable solitons in a three-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate confined by a one-dimensional optical lattice (OL), using spatially uniform temporal modulation of the scattering length (through ac magnetic field tuned close to the Feshbach resonance). Another physical implication of the model is a possibility to create stable 3D “light bullets” in an optical medium with a longitudinal alternating self-focusing/defocusing structure, and periodic modulation of the refractive index in a transverse direction. We develop a variational approximation to identify a stability region in the parametric space, and verify the existence of stable breathing solitons in direct simulations. Both methods reveal that stable solitons may be supported if the average value of the nonlinear coefficient (whose sign corresponds to attraction between atoms) and the OLs strength exceed well-defined minimum values. A moderately strong OL supports multi-peaked solitons, with essential interaction between the peaks.
We investigate stability of gap solitons (GSs) in the first two band gaps in the framework of the one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation, combining the repulsive nonlinearity and a moderately strong optical lattice (OL), which is subjected to ``management,'' in the form of time-periodic modulation of its depth. The analysis is performed for parameters relevant to the experiment, characteristic values of the modulation frequency being $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\sim}2\ensuremath{\pi}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}20\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{Hz}$. First, we present several GS species in the two band gaps in the absence of the management. These include fundamental solitons and their bound states, as well as a subfundamental soliton in the second gap, featuring two peaks of opposite signs in a single well of the periodic potential. This soliton is always unstable, and quickly transforms into a fundamental GS, losing a considerable part of its norm. In the first band gap, (stable) bound states of two fundamental GSs are possible solely with opposite signs, if they are separated by an empty site. Under the periodic modulation of the OL depth, we identify stability regions for various GS species, in terms of $\ensuremath{\omega}$ and modulation amplitude, at fixed values of the soliton's norm, N. In either band gap, the GS species with smallest N has a largest stability area; in the first and second gaps, they are, respectively, the fundamental GS proper, or the one spontaneously generated from the subfundamental soliton. However, with the increase of N, the stability region of every species expands in the first gap, and shrinks in the second one. The outcome of the instability development is also different in the two band gaps: it is destruction of the GS in the first gap, and generation of extra side lobes by unstable GSs in the second one.
We introduce two- and one-dimensional (1D) models of a binary BEC (Bose-Einstein condensate) in a periodic potential, with repulsive interactions. We chiefly consider the most fundamental case of the interspecies repulsion with zero intraspecies interactions. The same system may also model a mixture of two mutually repulsive fermionic species. Existence and stability regions for gap solitons (GSs) supported by the interplay of the interspecies repulsion and periodic potential are identified. Two-component GSs are constructed by means of the variational approximation (VA) and in a numerical form. The VA provides an accurate description for the GS which is a compound state of two tightly bound components, each essentially trapped in one cell of the periodic potential. GSs of this type dominate in the case of intragap solitons, with both components belonging to the first finite bandgap of the linear spectrum (only this type of solitons is possible in a weak lattice). Intergap solitons, with one component residing in the second bandgap, and intragap solitons which have both components in the second gap, are possible in a deeper periodic potential, with the strength essentially exceeding the recoil energy of the atoms. Intergap solitons are, typically, bound states of one tightly and one loosely bound component. In this case, results are obtained in a numerical form. The number of atoms in experimentally relevant situations is estimated to be $\ensuremath{\sim}5000$ in the 2D intragap soliton, and $\ensuremath{\sim}25\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}000$ in its intergap counterpart; in 1D solitons, it may be up to 105. For 2D solitons, the stability is identified in direct simulations, while in the 1D case it is done via eigenfrequencies of small perturbations, and then verified by simulations. In the latter case, if the intragap soliton in the first bandgap is weakly unstable, it evolves into a stable breather, while unstable solitons of other types (in particular, intergap solitons) get completely destroyed. The intragap 2D solitons in the first bandgap are less robust, and in some cases they are completely destroyed by the instability. Addition of intraspecies repulsion to the repulsion between the components leads to further stabilization of the GSs.