Abstract

We study the dynamics of a supersonically expanding ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate both experimentally and theoretically. The expansion redshifts long-wavelength excitations, as in an expanding universe. After expansion, energy in the radial mode leads to the production of bulk topological excitations - solitons and vortices - driving the production of a large number of azimuthal phonons and, at late times, causing stochastic persistent currents. These complex nonlinear dynamics, fueled by the energy stored coherently in one mode, are reminiscent of a type of "preheating" that may have taken place at the end of inflation.

Highlights

  • Cosmological expansion is central to our understanding of the Universe

  • The condensates used in this work are well described by mean field theory; we compare our measurements to numerical simulations using the stochastic-projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SPGPE, see Appendix B), which accurately captures Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) dynamics with thermal fluctuations [42,43]

  • We explored the physics of a rapidly expanding Bose-Einstein condensate

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Summary

A Rapidly Expanding Bose-Einstein Condensate

We study the dynamics of a supersonically expanding, ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate both experimentally and theoretically. The expansion redshifts long-wavelength excitations, as in an expanding universe. Energy in the radial mode leads to the production of bulk topological excitations— solitons and vortices—driving the production of a large number of azimuthal phonons and, at late times, causing stochastic persistent currents. These complex nonlinear dynamics, fueled by the energy stored coherently in one mode, are reminiscent of a type of “preheating” that may have taken place at the end of inflation

INTRODUCTION
PHONON REDSHIFT
RADIAL DYNAMICS
TURBULENCE AND REHEATING
STOCHASTIC PERSISTENT CURRENTS
Findings
DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK

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