On the phase-correlation and phase-fluctuation dynamics of a strongly excited Bose gas

Abstract

The dynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is explored in the wake of a violent excitation caused by a strong time-dependent deformation of a trapping potential under the action of an intense stirring laser. The system is a two-dimensional BEC confined to a power-law trap with hard-wall boundaries. The stirring agent is a moving red-detuned laser potential. The time-dependent Gross–Pitaevskii equation is solved numerically by the split-step Crank–Nicolson method in real time. The phase correlations and phase fluctuations are examined as functions of time to demonstrate the evolving properties of a strongly-excited BEC. Of special significance is the occurrence of spatial fluctuations while the condensate is being excited. These oscillations arise from stirrer-induced density fluctuations. While the stirrer is inside the trap, a reduction in phase coherence occurs, which is attributed to phase fluctuations.