Phase-jump nucleation in a one-dimensional model of a supersolid

Abstract

We consider the activation of phase jumps in a one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate. Our system includes a nonlocal interaction term which mimics, for example, a dipole-blockaded Rydberg system. In the mean-field limit the condensate can form superfluid droplets, arranged periodically on a line, thus displaying a supersolidlike ground state. Under an imposed velocity, phase jumps will develop. We study these phase jumps numerically and analytically, and are able to write down a relationship between the velocity, the width of the density peaks, the number of phase jumps, and $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$, a parameter that determines the number of peaks in the condensate.