Dynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate in a symmetric triple-well trap

Abstract

We present a complete analysis of the dynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate trapped in a symmetric triple-well potential. Our classical analogue treatment, based on a time-dependent variational method using SU(3) coherent states, includes the parameter dependence analysis of the equilibrium points and their local stability, which is closely related to the condensate collective behaviour. We also consider the effects of off-site interactions, and how these ‘cross-collisions’ may become relevant for a large number of trapped bosons. Even in the presence of cross-collisional terms, the model still features an integrable sub-regime, known as the twin-condensate dynamics, which corresponds to invariant surfaces in the classical phase space. However, the quantum dynamics preserves the twin-condensate defining characteristics only partially, thus breaking the invariance of the associated quantum subspace. Moreover, the periodic geometry of the trapping potential allowed us to investigate the dynamics of finite angular momentum collective excitations, which can be suppressed by the emergence of chaos. Finally, using the generalized purity associated with the su(3) algebra, we were able to quantify the dynamical classicality of a quantum evolved system, as compared to the corresponding classical trajectory.