Multicomponent Bose-Einstein Condensates Research Articles

Effect of finite range interactions on roton mode softening in a multi-component BEC

We consider the Gross-Pitaevskii model of a Bose–Einstein Condensate (BEC) for single-component and multi-component BEC. The pseudopotential for s-wave scattering between atoms is taken to be of a width of the order of the s-wave scattering length. Such an interaction giving rise to a roton minimum in the spectrum of elementary excitations of a single-component BEC is well known. However, softening roton modes take us into the strongly interacting BEC regime where three body losses occur. We study the roton mode softening for a multi-component BEC. We show that by increasing the number of components of a multi-component BEC, the roton mode can be softened at a progressively lower value of the gas parameter (a3n), thus reducing the three body losses.

Normalized solutions and asymptotical behavior of minimizer for the coupled Hartree equations

We prove the existence and nonexistence of L2(RN)-normalized solutions of coupled Hartree equations, which arisen from the studies of the nonlinear optics and multi-component Bose–Einstein condensates. Under certain type trapping potentials, by proving some delicate energy estimates, we give a precise description on the concentration behavior of minimizer solutions of the system. Furthermore, an optimal blowing up rate for the minimizer solutions of the system is also proved.

Erratum: Bouncing motion and penetration dynamics in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates [Phys. Rev. A 93 , 033615 (2016)

Erratum: Bouncing motion and penetration dynamics in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates [Phys. Rev. A <b>93</b> , 033615 (2016)

Recent Advances in Superconductivity and Vortex Matter: Selected Topics

The more-than-a-century history of superconductivity is marked by a great deal of progress in the understanding of this fascinating phenomenon as well as discovery and design of new superconducting materials and systems with enhanced critical parameters. Despite the achievements in theory, experiment and technology, many questions still remain open related to the mechanisms of superconductivity in so-called unconventional materials and aspects related to applications of superconductors which stimulates continuous research interest in the field. In this short review paper, we discuss some important recent advances in superconductivity and vortex matter made over about the last decade. In particular, we focus on novel iron-based and multigap superconductors and vortex matter in multi-component systems including multiband superconductors and multi-component Bose–Einstein condensates. We also discuss recent advances in manipulating vortex matter in nano-engineered superconducting systems such as non-periodic pinning arrays which can be used as devices that enhance the critical superconducting parameters and thus open new possibilities for applications of superconductors.

Dynamics of dark-bright vector solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates

We analyze the dynamics of two-component vector solitons, namely bright-in-dark solitons, via the variational approximation in Bose-Einstein condensates. The system is described by a vector nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation appropriate to multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). The variational approximation is based on hyperbolic secant (hyperbolic tangent) for the bright (dark) component, which leads to a system of coupled ordinary differential equations for the evolution of the ansatz parameters. We obtain the oscillation dynamics of two-component dark-bright vector solitons. Analytical calculations are performed for same-width components in the vector soliton and numerical calculations extend the results to arbitrary widths. We calculate the binding energy of the system and find it proportional to the intercomponent coupling interaction, and numerically demonstrate the break up or unbinding of a dark-bright soliton. Our calculations explore observable eigenmodes, namely the internal oscillation eigenmode and the Goldstone eigenmode. We find analytically that the density of the bright component is required to be less than the density of the dark component in order to find the internal oscillation eigenmode of the vector soliton and support the existence of the dark-bright soliton. This outcome is confirmed by numerical results. Numerically, we find that the oscillation frequency is amplitude independent. For dark-bright vector solitons in $^{87}$Rb we find that the oscillation frequency range is 90 to 405 Hz, and therefore observable in multi-component BEC experiments.

Dynamics of rogue wave excitation pattern on stripe phase backgrounds in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate

We study rogue wave excitation pattern in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate with pair-transition effects. The results indicate that rogue wave excitation can exist on a stripe phase background for which there are cosine and sine wave background in the two components respectively. The rogue wave peak can be much lower than the ones of scalar matter wave rogue waves, and varies with the wave period changing. Both rogue wave pattern and rogue wave number on temporal-spatial plane are much more abundant than the ones reported before. Furthermore, we prove that the rogue wave number can be n(n+1)/2+m(m+1)/2 (where m, n are arbitrary non-negative integers), in contrast to n(n+1)/2 for scalar nonlinear Schrödinger equation described systems. These results would enrich our knowledge on nonlinear excitations in multi-component Bose-Einstein condensate with transition coupling effects.

Multiple positive solutions for a coupled nonlinear Hartree type equations with perturbations

In this paper we study the existence of multiple nontrivial solutions of coupled nonlinear Hartree equations with perturbations. This type of equations was used to describe the multi-component Bose–Einstein condensates and the basic quantum chemistry model of small number of electrons interacting with static nuclei. By combining the Nehari constraint and minimax methods, we prove the existence of two nontrivial solutions of the equations.

Energy sharing induced by the nonlinear interaction**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374197), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of TYUST, China (Grant No. 20122041), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University, China (Grant No. IRT13076).

Strong energy sharing is shown by numerically investigating coupled multi-component Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) with a harmonic trap to simulate the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam model (FPU). For two-component BECs, the energy exchanging between each part, from regular, quantum beating to complete energy sharing, is explored by simulating their Husimi distributions, the time evolution of energies and the statistical entropy. Meanwhile, in the three-component case, a more complex energy sharing behavior is reported and a strong energy sharing is found.

Vector dark-antidark solitary waves in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates

Multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates exhibit an intriguing variety of nonlinear structures. In recent theoretical work, the notion of magnetic solitons has been introduced. Here we generalize this concept to vector dark-antidark solitary waves in multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates. We first provide concrete experimental evidence for such states in an atomic BEC and subsequently illustrate the broader concept of these states, which are based on the interplay between miscibility and inter-component repulsion. Armed with this more general conceptual framework, we expand the notion of such states to higher dimensions presenting the possibility of both vortex-antidark states and ring-antidark-ring (dark soliton) states. We perform numerical continuation studies, investigate the existence of these states and examine their stability using the method of Bogolyubov-de Gennes analysis. Dark-antidark and vortex-antidark states are found to be stable for broad parametric regimes. In the case of ring dark solitons, where the single-component ring state is known to be unstable, the vector entity appears to bear a progressively more and more stabilizing role as the inter-component coupling is increased.

SO(2)-induced breathing patterns in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates

In this work, we employ the $\mathrm{SO}(2)$ rotations of a two-component, one-, two-, and three-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger system at and near the Manakov limit to construct vector solitons and vortex structures. In this way, stable stationary dark-bright solitons and their higher-dimensional siblings are transformed into robust oscillatory dark-dark solitons (and generalizations thereof) with and without a harmonic confinement. By analogy to the one-dimensional case, vector higher-dimensional structures take the form of vortex-vortex states in two dimensions and, e.g., vortex-ring--vortex-ring ones in three dimensions. We consider the effects of unequal (self- and cross-) interaction strengths, where the $\mathrm{SO}(2)$ symmetry is only approximately satisfied, showing the dark-dark soliton oscillation is generally robust. Similar features are found in higher dimensions too, although our examples suggest that phenomena such as phase separation may contribute to the associated dynamics. These results, in connection with the experimental realization of one-dimensional variants of such states in optics and Bose-Einstein condensates, suggest the potential observability of the higher-dimensional bound states proposed herein.

Particle-number-conserving Bogoliubov approximation for Bose-Einstein condensates using extended catalytic states

We encode the many-body wavefunction of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in the $N$-particle sector of an extended catalytic state. This catalytic state is a coherent state for the condensate mode and an arbitrary state for the modes orthogonal to the condensate mode. Going to a time-dependent interaction picture where the state of the condensate mode is displaced to the vacuum, we can organize the effective Hamiltonian by powers of ${N}^{-1/2}$. Requiring the terms of order ${N}^{1/2}$ to vanish gives the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Going to the next order, $N^0$, we derive equations for the number-conserving Bogoliubov approximation, first given by Castin and Dum [Phys. Rev. A $\textbf{57}$, 3008 (1998)]. In contrast to other approaches, ours is well suited to calculating the state evolution in the Schr\"{o}dinger picture; moreover, it is straightforward to generalize our method to multi-component BECs and to higher-order corrections.

Bouncing motion and penetration dynamics in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate dynamic properties of bouncing and penetration in colliding binary and ternary Bose-Einstein condensates comprised of different Zeeman or hyperfine states of 87Rb. Through the application of magnetic field gradient pulses, two- or three-component condensates in an optical trap are spatially separated and then made to collide. The subsequent evolutions are classified into two categories: repeated bouncing motion and mutual penetration after damped bounces. We experimentally observed mutual penetration for immiscible condensates, bouncing between miscible condensates, and domain formation for miscible condensates. From numerical simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we find that the penetration time can be tuned by slightly changing the atomic interaction strengths.

Integrable pair-transition-coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations

We study integrable coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with pair particle transition between components. Based on exact solutions of the coupled model with attractive or repulsive interaction, we predict that some new dynamics of nonlinear excitations can exist, such as the striking transition dynamics of breathers, new excitation patterns for rogue waves, topological kink excitations, and other new stable excitation structures. In particular, we find that nonlinear wave solutions of this coupled system can be written as a linear superposition of solutions for the simplest scalar nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Possibilities to observe them are discussed in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate with two hyperfine states. The results would enrich our knowledge on nonlinear excitations in many coupled nonlinear systems with transition coupling effects, such as multimode nonlinear fibers, coupled waveguides, and a multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensate system.

Optical computing with soliton trains in Bose–Einstein condensates

Optical computing devices can be implemented based on controlled generation of soliton trains in single and multicomponent Bose–Einstein condensates (BEC). Our concepts utilize the phenomenon that the frequency of soliton trains in BEC can be governed by changing interactions within the atom cloud [F. Pinsker, N. G. Berloff and V. M. Pérez-García, Phys. Rev. A87, 053624 (2013), arXiv:1305.4097]. We use this property to store numbers in terms of those frequencies for a short time until observation. The properties of soliton trains can be changed in an intended way by other components of BEC occupying comparable states or via phase engineering. We elucidate, in which sense, such an additional degree of freedom can be regarded as a tool for controlled manipulation of data. Finally, the outcome of any manipulation made is read out by observing the signature within the density profile.

Bound vortex states and exotic lattices in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates: The role of vortex-vortex interaction

We numerically study the vortex-vortex interaction in multi-component homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates within the realm of the Gross-Pitaevskii theory. We provide strong evidences that pairwise vortex interaction captures the underlying mechanisms which determine the geometric configuration of the vortices, such as different lattices in many-vortex states, as well as the bound vortex states with two (dimer) or three (trimer) vortices. Specifically, we discuss and apply our theoretical approach to investigate intra- and inter-component vortex-vortex interactions in two- and three-component Bose-Einstein condensates, thereby shedding light on the formation of the exotic vortex configurations. These results correlate with current experimental efforts in multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates, and the understanding of the role of vortex interactions in multiband superconductors.

Fluctuation effects in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates with broken SU(2) andU(1)×U(1)symmetries in the presence of intercomponent density-density interactions

Thermal fluctuations and melting transitions for rotating single-component superfluids have been intensively studied and are well understood. In contrast, the thermal effects on vortex states for two-component superfluids with density-density interaction, which have a much richer variety of vortex ground states, have been much less studied. Here, we investigate the thermal effects on vortex matter in superfluids with $\mathrm{U}(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{U}(1)$ broken symmetries and intercomponent density-density interactions, as well as the case with a larger $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ broken symmetry obtainable from the $[\mathrm{U}(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{U}(1)]$-symmetric case by tuning scattering lengths. In the former case we find that, in addition to first-order melting transitions, the system exhibits thermally driven phase transitions between square and hexagonal lattices. Our main result, however, concerns the case where the condensate exhibits $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ symmetry, and where vortices are not topological. At finite temperature, the system exhibits effects which do not have a counterpart in single-component systems. Namely, it has a state where thermally averaged quantities show no regular vortex lattice, yet the system retains superfluid coherence along the axis of rotation. In such a state, the thermal fluctuations result in transitions between different (nearly) degenerate vortex states without undergoing a melting transition. Our results apply to multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates, and we suggest how to detect some of these unusual effects experimentally in such systems.

Beats and expansion of two-component Bose–Einstein condensates in the Thomas–Fermi limit

A unique feature of multi-component Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) is the possibility of beating frequencies in collective oscillations. We analytically determine this beating frequency for the two-component BEC in one-dimension. We also show that the Thomas–Fermi approximation, where the quantum pressure is neglected, describes well the expansion of the two-component condensate released from an harmonic trap.

Analytical multisoliton solutions for multicomponent Bose–Einstein condensate systems with time- and space-controlled potentials

Abstract We construct explicit multisoliton complex solutions for multicomponent Bose–Einstein condensate systems with time- and spatial-coordinate-dependent atomic potentials and interactions. The exact solutions are used to analyze the important solitary matter wave properties such as the profiles of temporal and spatial multimode beams as well as focusing effects. Results demonstrate that soliton complexes can be controlled nonlinearly during the interaction by modulating the external potentials and nonlinearities.

Manifold mixing in the temporal evolution of a spin-1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensate.

Hydrodynamics of the spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated without restriction of its allowed manifold to either the ferromagnetic or the antiferromagnetic phase. Mixing of the two manifolds is found to be a generic feature in the temporal evolution of the condensate, regardless of the sign and strength of the spin-dependent interaction. Hydrodynamic theory is developed based on a new representation of the spin-1 condensate wave function as a linear combination of the well-known wave functions specific to antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic manifolds only. Dynamical constraints unique to each submanifold are derived for the first time, demonstrating that efforts to write down hydrodynamic theory in one specific manifold are generally invalid. Certain exceptions, such as a uniform spiral state in the antiferromagnetic manifold, are shown to sustain dynamical evolution within the same manifold over time.

Non-autonomous bright–dark solitons and Rabi oscillations in multi-component Bose–Einstein condensates

We study the dynamics of non-autonomous bright–dark matter-wave solitons in two- and three-component Bose–Einstein condensates. Our setting includes a time-dependent parabolic potential and scattering length, as well as Rabi coupling of the separate hyperfine states. By means of a similarity transformation, we transform the non-autonomous coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations into the completely integrable Manakov model with defocusing nonlinearity, and construct the explicit form of the non-autonomous soliton solutions. The propagation characteristics for the one-soliton state, and collision scenarios for multiple soliton states are discussed in detail for two types of time-dependent nonlinearities: a kink-like one and a periodically modulated one, with appropriate time-dependence of the trapping potential. We find that in the two-component condensates the nature of soliton propagation is determined predominantly by the nature of the nonlinearity, as well as the temporal modulation of the harmonic potential; switching in this setting is essentially due to Rabi coupling. We also perform direct numerical simulation of the non-autonomous two-component coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations to corroborate our analytical predictions. More interestingly, in the case of the three-component condensates, we find that the solitons can lead to collision-induced energy switching (energy sharing collision), that can be profitably used to control Rabi switching or vice versa. An interesting possibility of reversal of the nature of the constituent soliton, i.e., bright (dark) into dark (bright) due to Rabi coupling is demonstrated in the three-component setting.