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arXiv:cond-mat/9711111 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Formation of fundamental structures in Bose - Einstein condensates

T F Scott, R J Ballagh, K Burnett

Published Apr 28, 1998• 75 citations
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Abstract

The mean-field interaction in a Bose condensate provides a nonlinearity which can allow stable structures to exist in the mean-field wavefunction. We discuss a number of examples where condensates, modelled by the one-dimensional Gross - Pitaevskii equation, can produce grey solitons and we consider in detail the case of two identical condensates colliding in a harmonic trap. Solitons are shown to form from dark interference fringes when the soliton structure, constrained in a defined manner, has lower energy than the interference fringe and an analytic expression is given for this condition.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/31/8/001

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The mean-field interaction in a Bose condensate provides a nonlinearity which can allow stable structures to exist in the mean-field wavefunction. We discuss a number of examples where condensates, modelled by the one-dimensional Gross - Pitaevskii equation, can produce grey solitons and we consider in detail the case of two identical condensates colliding in a harmonic trap. Solitons are shown to form from dark interference fringes when the soliton structure, constrained in a defined manner, has lower energy than the interference fringe and an analytic expression is given for this condition.
Summary form only given.The self-interaction of the mean field in Bose condensates introduces a nonlinearity that allows stable structures, including gray solitons (in one spatial dimension) and vortices (in two and three dimensions), to exist in the mean field wave function. As well as having their own dynamic properties, these fundamental structures have a role in determining the dynamics of the bulk quantum fluid. Using the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation to model condensate evolution, we have examined a range of different scenarios where these structures can occur, and have investigated their mechanism of formation, their stability properties, and their behavior in the bulk motion of the condensate.
In this short topical review, we revisit a number of works on the pattern-forming dynamical instabilities of Bose–Einstein condensates in one- and two-dimensional settings. In particular, we illustrate the trapping conditions that allow the reduction of the three-dimensional, mean field description of the condensates (through the Gross–Pitaevskii equation) to such lower dimensional settings, as well as to lattice settings. We then go on to study the modulational instability in one dimension and the snaking/transverse instability in two dimensions as typical examples of long-wavelength perturbations that can destabilize the condensates and lead to the formation of patterns of coherent structures in them. Trains of solitons in one dimension and vortex arrays in two dimensions are prototypical examples of the resulting nonlinear waveforms, upon which we briefly touch at the end of this review.
Matter-wave interference mechanisms in one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates that allow for the controlled generation of dark soliton trains upon choosing suitable box-type initial configurations are described. First, the direct scattering problem for the defocusing nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with nonzero boundary conditions and general box-type initial configurations is discussed, and expressions for the discrete spectrum corresponding to the dark soliton excitations generated by the dynamics are obtained. It is found that the size of the initial box directly affects the number, size and velocity of the solitons, while the initial phase determines the parity of the solutions. The analytical results obtained for the untrapped system are compared to those of numerical simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, both in the absence and in the presence of a harmonic trap. The numerical results bear out the analytical results with excellent agreement.
Summary form only given. Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) of weakly interacting gases allow for the new regime of nonlinear atom optics. Of special interest are macroscopically excited states like dark solitons or vortices. Solitons, as particle like excitations of matter wave fields, provide a link from condensate physics to fluid mechanics, nonlinear optics and fundamental particle physics. Dark solitons in matter waves are characterized by a local density minimum and, a steep phase gradient of the wavefunction at the position of the minimum. We report on experimental and theoretical investigation of dark solitons in BECs of /sup 87/Rb which are produced by the method of phase imprinting. A highly anisotropic confining potential allows us to be close to the (quasi) 1D situation where dark solitons are expected to be dynamically stable. By monitoring the evolution of the density profile we observe the evolution of density minima travelling at a smaller velocity than the speed of sound. By comparison to analytical and numerical solutions of the 3D Gross-Pitaevskii equation for our experimental conditions we identify these density minima to be moving dark solitons. We have studied in detail the creation and the dynamics of dark solitons as a function of evolution time and imprinted phase.
The interference between two condensates with repulsive interaction is investigated numerically by solving the one-dimensional time-dependent Gross–Pitaevskii equation. The periodic interference pattern forms in two condensates, which are prepared in a double-well potential consisting of two truncated harmonic wells centered at different positions. Dark solitons are observed when two condensates overlap. Due to the existence of atom–atom interactions, atoms are transferred among the ground state and the excited states, which coincides with the condensate energy change.
We study the one-dimensional dynamics of dark-dark solitons in the miscible regime of two density-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates having repulsive interparticle interactions within each condensate (g>0g>0g>0). By using an adiabatic perturbation theory in the parameter g12/g{g}_{12}/gg12​/g, we show that, contrary to the case of two solitons in scalar condensates, the interactions between solitons are attractive when the interparticle interactions between condensates are repulsive g12>0{g}_{12}>0g12​>0. As a result, the relative motion of dark solitons with equal chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$ is well approximated by harmonic oscillations of angular frequency ${w}_{r}=(\ensuremath{\mu}/\ensuremath{\hbar})\sqrt{(8/15){g}_{12}/g}$. We also show that, in finite systems, the resonance of this anomalous excitation mode with the spin-density mode of lowest energy gives rise to alternating dynamical instability and stability fringes as a function of the perturbative parameter. In the presence of harmonic trapping (with angular frequency $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}$) the solitons are driven by the superposition of two harmonic motions at a frequency given by ${w}^{2}={(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}/\sqrt{2})}^{2}+{w}_{r}^{2}$. When g12<0{g}_{12}<0g12​<0, these two oscillators compete to give rise to an overall effective potential that can be either single well or double well through a pitchfork bifurcation. All our theoretical results are compared with numerical solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the dynamics and the Bogoliubov equations for the linear stability. A good agreement is found between them.