Nonlinear Matter Waves Research Articles

Rydberg-dressed solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates with parity-time symmetry

Generating stable bright solitons in free space has been a long-standing goal in the study of matter waves in Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Rydberg-induced matter wave demonstrates an excellent effect in balancing the repulsive and attractive interactions between remote atoms. Parity-time (PT) symmetric lattices have been widely studied in controlling the flow of matter waves. In this study, we theoretically investigated the localization of nonlinear matter waves in the PT-symmetric Rydberg atomic BECs system. The numerical simulation method was used to obtain the stationary solutions of the wave function by solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) of the Rydberg-dressed BECs system. Fundamental, higher-order solitons and vortical ones were uncovered, and their stabilities were evaluated through linear-stability analysis and direct simulation with perturbation. Furthermore, the collision of solitons exhibited a quasi-elastic feature.

Whitham modulation theory for the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation in two and three spatial dimensions

The Whitham modulation equations for the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation in two, three and higher spatial dimensions are derived using a two-phase ansatz for the periodic traveling wave solutions and by period-averaging the conservation laws of the NLS equation. The resulting Whitham modulation equations are written in vector form, which allows one to show that they preserve the rotational invariance of the NLS equation, as well as the invariance with respect to scaling and Galilean transformations, and to immediately generalize the calculations from two spatial dimensions to three. The transformation to Riemann-type variables is described in detail; the harmonic and soliton limits of the Whitham modulation equations are explicitly written down; and the reduction of the Whitham equations to those for the radial NLS equation is explicitly carried out. Finally, the extension of the theory to higher spatial dimensions is briefly outlined. The multidimensional NLS-Whitham equations obtained here may be used to study large amplitude wavetrains in a variety of applications including nonlinear photonics and matter waves.

Creation and Manipulation of Quantized Vortices in Bose–Einstein Condensates Using Reinforcement Learning

We apply the technique of reinforcement learning to the control of nonlinear matter waves. In this method, an agent controls the position, strength, and shape of an external Gaussian potential to create and manipulate quantized vortices in a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped in a harmonic potential. The density and velocity distributions of the BEC at each moment obtained by the Gross–Pitaevskii evolution are directly input into a convolutional neural network to determine the next action of the agent. We demonstrate that a stationary single-vortex state can be produced in a two-dimensional system, and a stationary vortex-ring state can be produced in a three-dimensional system.

Localized nonlinear dissipative matter waves controlled by quantum fluctuations

The dynamics of matter waves in a trapped Bose–Einstein condensate including three-body losses, atomic feeding and quantum fluctuations is investigated theoretically and numerically. We use a generalized variational approach which allows us to express the influence of the condensate parameters on the time evolution of the amplitude, width and chirp, through a set of differential equations. Emphasis is placed on the strength of quantum fluctuations which deeply modifies the wave dynamics. Direct numerical simulations confirm the analytical results. Importantly, we extend numerical experiments and show that the localized modes split into two or three trains of solitary waves which can be controlled by the quantum fluctuations.

Simplified P-representation operator correspondence applied to quantum systems with generalized Kerr nonlinearity

A simplified operator correspondence scheme is derived to address nonlinear quantum systems within the framework of the [Formula: see text]-representation. The simplified method is applied to a general nonlinear quantum oscillator model that has been used in the literature to describe nonlinear quantum optical and matter wave systems. The [Formula: see text]-representation evolution equation for the model is derived for arbitrary nonlinearity exponents. It is shown that in the high temperature case, the [Formula: see text]-representation is sufficient to describe the model and its associated systems such that there is no need to use alternative, mathematically more involved representations. Systems with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities are considered in more detail. Distributions for the energy levels and photon and particle numbers are obtained within the framework of the [Formula: see text]-representation. Moreover, the electrical field oscillation frequency dependency is studied numerically when interpreting the model as model for quantum optical nonlinear oscillators.

Effects of linear Zeeman splitting on the dynamics of bright solitons in spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

Solitons as self-supported solitary waves are one of the most fundamental objects in nonlinear science. With the realization of Bose-Einstein condensate, matter-wave solitons have aroused enormous interest due to their potential applications in atomic transport and atomic interferometer. In recent years, the artificial spin-orbit coupling has been realized in ultracold atoms, thus providing a new platform to study the nonlinear matter wave solitons under a gauge field, and a variety of novel soliton phenomena have been successively predicted. In this paper, we analyze the effects of linear Zeeman splitting on the dynamics of bright-bright solitons in spin-orbit coupled two-component Bose-Einstein condensate, via the variational approximation and the numerical simulation of Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equations. For the SU(2) spin-rotational invariant attractive atomic interaction in a uniform case without external trap, we take a hyperbolic secant function as the variational Ansatz for bright soliton in variational approximation, and derive the Euler-Lagrange equations describing the evolution of the Ansatz parameters. By solving the time-independent Euler-Lagrange equations, we find two stationary solitons each with a finite momentum for a weak spin-orbit coupling due to the linear Zeeman splitting. Linearizing the Euler-Lagrange equations around these stationary solitons, we further obtain a zero-energy Goldstone mode and an oscillation mode with frequency related to linear Zeeman splitting: the former indicates that the continuous translational symmetry of the stationary solitons will be broken under a perturbation, and the later shows that the stationary solitons will oscillate under a perturbation. Furthermore, by solving the time-dependent Euler-Lagrange equations, we also obtain the exact full dynamical solutions of Ansatz parameters, and observe that the linear Zeeman splitting affects the period and velocity of soliton's oscillation and linear motion, which may provide a new method to control the dynamics of solitons. All the variational calculations are also confirmed directly by the numerical simulation of GP equations.

Coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear matter waves.

Coherent perfect absorption is the complete extinction of incoming radiation by a complex potential in a physical system supporting wave propagation. The concept was proven for linear waves in a variety of systems including light interacting with absorbing scatterers, plasmonic metasurfaces, and graphene films, as well as sound waves. We extend the paradigm to coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear waves and experimentally demonstrate it for matter waves in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Coherent absorption of nonlinear matter waves is achieved easier than its linear analogs because the strength of two-body interactions offers additional freedom for control. Implementation of the coherent perfect absorber of Bose-Einstein condensates paves the way toward broad exploitation of the phenomenon in nonlinear optics, exciton-polariton condensates, acoustics, and other areas of nonlinear physics. It also opens perspectives for designing atom lasers.

Exotic complexes in one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling

By means of the F-expansion method and intensive numerical simulations, the existence of three families of nonlinear matter waves including Jacobi elliptic functions, solitons, and triangular periodic functions, is demonstrated for spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates with a linear potential. In addition, several complexes are obtained by taking two distinct solutions of each family or two distinct families. These solutions sustain different types of two-body interactions in the condensate that can be repulsive, attractive, or attractive and repulsive. Whereas the spin-orbit coupling destabilized these nonlinear matter waves, the linear potential leads to a stabilization. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with our analytical findings and it can be expected that the proposed robust solutions should be observable for experimentally relevant conditions.

Localized spatially nonlinear matter waves in atomic-molecular Bose-Einstein condensates with space-modulated nonlinearity.

The intrinsic nonlinearity is the most remarkable characteristic of the Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) systems. Many studies have been done on atomic BECs with time- and space- modulated nonlinearities, while there is few work considering the atomic-molecular BECs with space-modulated nonlinearities. Here, we obtain two kinds of Jacobi elliptic solutions and a family of rational solutions of the atomic-molecular BECs with trapping potential and space-modulated nonlinearity and consider the effect of three-body interaction on the localized matter wave solutions. The topological properties of the localized nonlinear matter wave for no coupling are analysed: the parity of nonlinear matter wave functions depends only on the principal quantum number n, and the numbers of the density packets for each quantum state depend on both the principal quantum number n and the secondary quantum number l. When the coupling is not zero, the localized nonlinear matter waves given by the rational function, their topological properties are independent of the principal quantum number n, only depend on the secondary quantum number l. The Raman detuning and the chemical potential can change the number and the shape of the density packets. The stability of the Jacobi elliptic solutions depends on the principal quantum number n, while the stability of the rational solutions depends on the chemical potential and Raman detuning.

Thermalization of matter waves in speckle potentials

We show that the momentum distribution of a nonlinear matter wave suddenly released with a finite velocity in a speckle potential converges, after an out-of-equilibrium evolution, to a universal Rayleigh-Jeans thermal distribution. By exploring the complete phase diagram of the equilibrated wave, we discover that for low but nonzero values of the disorder strength, a large-scale structure -a condensate- appears in the equilibrium distribution.

Parity-time-symmetric solitons in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates and the influence of varying complex potentials: A variational approach.

Dynamics and properties of nonlinear matter waves in a trapped BEC subject to a PT-symmetric linear potential, with the trap in the form of a super-Gaussian potential, are investigated via a variational approach accounting for the complex nature of the soliton. In the process, we address how the shape of the imaginary part of the potential, that is, a gain-loss mechanism, affects the self-localization and the stability of the condensate. Variational results are found to be in good agreement with full numerical simulations for predicting the shape, width, and chemical potential of the condensate until the PT breaking point. Variational computation also predicts the existence of solitary solution only above a threshold in the particle number as the gain-loss is increased, in agreement with numerical simulations.

Dynamical properties and stability of snakelike solitons of cubic–quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation with combined spatiotemporal modulation of nonlinearities and time-dependent linear-lattice potential

We study localized nonlinear matter waves of cubic–quintic nonlinear Schrodinger equation with combined spatiotemporal modulation of nonlinearities and time-dependent linear-lattice potential. Exact novel snakelike soliton solutions in terms of Mathieu and elliptic functions are obtained by using a modified similarity transformation. The stability of exact solutions is investigated numerically and some stable snakelike solitons are found.

Exact breathing soliton solutions in combined time-dependent harmonic-lattice potential

We investigate the explicit novel localized nonlinear matter waves of the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation with spatiotemporal modulation of the nonlinearities and the harmonic-lattice potential using a modified similarity transformation. We also find that when the modulus of the Jacobian elliptic function in the limit closes to 1, the shapes of the breathing solitons may exhibit some interesting features, i.e., one breathing soliton dividing into two in the ground state. The stability of the exact solutions is investigated numerically such that some stable breathing soliton solutions are found.

Dynamical generation of interwoven soliton trains by nonlinear emission in binary Bose-Einstein condensates

We propose a method for the generation of trains of alternating bright solitons in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates, using controlled emission of nonlinear matter-waves in the uncoupled regime with spatially-varying intra-species interaction and out-of-phase oscillations of the ground states in the trap. Under this scheme, solitons are sequentially launched from the different components, and interact with each other through phase-independent cross-coupling. We obtain an analytical estimation of the critical condition for soliton emission using a geometric guiding model, in analogy with integrated optical systems. In addition, we show how strong initial perturbations in the system can trigger the spontaneous generation of supersolitons, i.e. localized phonon-like excitations of the soliton trains. Finally, we demonstrate the controllable generation of slow and fast supersolitons by adding external localized potentials in the nonlinear region.

Localized nonlinear matter waves in Bose-Einstein condensates with spatially and spatiotemporally modulated nonlinearities

The novel phenomena arising from Bose-Einstein condensates with spatially and spatiotemporally modulated nonlinearities in external potential is reviewed from a theoretical viewpoint. We first present theoretical analysis and numerical studies of the localized nonlinear matter waves in one-dimensional single and two-component BECs with spatially and spatiotemporally modulated nonlinearities, respectively. It is shown that the spatially or spatiotemporally modulated nonlinearity can support stable novel localized nonlinear matter waves such as the breathing solitons and moving solitons. Then the quasi-two-dimensional BEC with spatially modulated nonlinearity is investigated and we show that all of the BECs, similar to the linear harmonic oscillator, can have an arbitrary number of localized nonlinear matter waves with discrete energies. Their properties are determined by the principal quantum number and secondary quantum number. Moreover, we investigate the quantized vortices in a rotating BEC with spatiotemporally modulated interaction in harmonic and anharmonic potentials, respectively. The exact quantized vortex and giant vortex solutions are constructed explicitly by similarity transformation. Their stability behavior is examined by numerical simulation, which shows that a new series of stable vortex states which are defined by radial and angular quantum numbers, can be supported by the spatiotemporally modulated interaction in this system. We find that there exist stable quantized vortices with large topological charges in repulsive condensates with spatiotemporally modulated interaction.

Localized nonlinear vector matter waves in two-component Bose–Einstein condensates with spatially modulated nonlinearities

Exact localized nonlinear vector matter waves in the form of soliton–soliton and vortex–vortex pairs in two-component Bose–Einstein condensates with spatially modulated nonlinearity coefficients and harmonic trapping potentials are reported. It is shown that there exists an infinite number of exact vector pairs sharing the same chemical potential with soliton–soliton ones for odd integer n while vortex–vortex ones for even integer n. The stability of the vector pairs found is investigated by means of direct numerical simulations and a linear stability analysis; the results show that the stable vortex–vortex pairs (±l,±l) with large topological charges can be supported by the spatially modulated interaction when the harmonic trapping potential is presented in this system.

Localized nonlinear matter waves in a Bose–Einstein condensate with spatially inhomogeneous two- and three-body interactions

We investigate the profiles and stability of the localized nonlinear matter waves in a Bose–Einstein condensate with spatially inhomogeneous two- and three-body interactions in various external potentials both analytically and numerically. Several families of localized stationary solutions of the one-dimensional mean-field Gross–Pitaevskii equation with cubic–quintic nonlinearities are obtained by similarity transformation. It is shown that the whole Bose–Einstein condensate can have an infinite number of localized nonlinear matter waves determined by certain non-negative integers. The linear and dynamical stabilities of the localized stationary solutions are studied numerically, and some stable localized nonlinear matter waves are found. We demonstrate that the attractive inhomogeneous two- and three-body interactions support linearly and dynamically stable localized nonlinear matter waves, but attractive two-body interaction along with repulsive three-body interaction destroys the linear stability. Moreover, an anharmonic potential is proposed to stabilize the localized nonlinear matter waves in the Bose–Einstein condensate with spatially inhomogeneous interactions.

Weak localization with nonlinear bosonic matter waves

We investigate the coherent propagation of dilute atomic Bose-Einstein condensates through irregularly shaped billiard geometries that are attached to uniform incoming and outgoing waveguides. Using the mean-field description based on the nonlinear Gross–Pitaevskii equation, we develop a diagrammatic theory for the self-consistent stationary scattering state of the interacting condensate, which is combined with the semiclassical representation of the single-particle Green function in terms of chaotic classical trajectories within the billiard. This analytical approach predicts a universal dephasing of weak localization in the presence of a small interaction strength between the atoms, which is found to be in good agreement with the numerically computed reflection and transmission probabilities of the propagating condensate. The numerical simulation of this quasi-stationary scattering process indicates that this interaction-induced dephasing mechanism may give rise to a signature of weak antilocalization, which we attribute to the influence of non-universal short-path contributions.

Quantum swapping of immiscible Bose-Einstein condensates as an alternative to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability

We consider a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate in a quasi-one-dimensional harmonic trap, where the immiscible components are pressed against each other by an external magnetic force. The zero-temperature non-stationary Gross-Pitaevskii equations are solved numerically; analytical models are developed for the key steps in the process. We demonstrate that if the magnetic force is strong enough, then the condensates may swap their places in the trap due to dynamic quantum interpenetration of the nonlinear matter waves. The swapping is accompanied by development of a modulational instability leading to quasi-turbulent excitations. Unlike the multidimensional Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a similar geometry of two-component quantum fluid systems, quantum interpenetration has no classical analogue. A crossover between the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and the quantum interpenetration in a two-dimensional geometry is demonstrated.

Nonlinear localized modes in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices

The modulational instability and discrete matter wave solitons in dipolar BEC, loaded into a deep optical lattice, are investigated analytically and numerically. The process of modulational instability of nonlinear plane matter waves in a dipolar nonlinear lattice is studied and the regions of instability are established. The existence and stability of bulk discrete solitons are analyzed analytically and confirmed by numerical simulations. In a marked contrast with the usual DNLS behavior (no dipolar interactions), we found a region where the two fundamental modes are simultaneously unstable allowing enhanced mobility across the lattice for large norm values. To study the existence and properties of surface discrete solitons, an analysis of the dimer configuration is performed. The properties of symmetric and antisymmetric modes including the stability diagrams and bifurcations are investigated in closed form. For the case of a bulk medium, properties of fundamental on-site and inter-site localized modes are analyzed. On-site and inter-site surface localized modes are studied finding that they do not exist when nonlocal interactions predominate with respect to local ones.