Optimal control of the self-bound dipolar droplet formation process

Abstract

Dipolar Bose–Einstein condensates have recently attracted much attention in the world of quantum many body experiments. While the theoretical principles behind these experiments are typically supported by numerical simulations, the application of optimal control algorithms could potentially open up entirely new possibilities. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate that the formation process of a single dipolar droplet state could be dramatically accelerated using advanced concepts of optimal control. More specifically, our optimization is based on a multilevel B-spline method reducing the number of required cost function evaluations and hence significantly reducing the numerical effort. Moreover, our strategy allows to consider box constraints on the control inputs in a concise and efficient way. To further improve the overall efficiency, we show how to evaluate the dipolar interaction potential in the generalized Gross–Pitaevskii equation without sacrificing the spectral convergence rate of the underlying time-splitting spectral method.