Collapse times for attractive Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the primary cause of collapse in attractive Bose-Einstein condensates is the loss of coherence between atoms at finite distances, which clarifies previous discrepancies in theoretical predictions of collapse times.

Contribution

It introduces a new perspective on the collapse mechanism, emphasizing coherence loss over noncondensate mode occupation growth, and explains why field theoretical models better predict collapse times.

Findings

Coherence loss occurs faster than noncondensate occupation growth by a factor of 3/2.

The proposed mechanism explains the accuracy of field theoretical models in predicting collapse times.

The study refines understanding of condensate collapse dynamics in attractive BECs.

Abstract

We argue that the main mechanism for condensate collapse in an attractive Bose-Einstein condensate is the loss of coherence between atoms a finite distance apart, rather than the growth of the occupation number in noncondensate modes. Since the former mechanism is faster than the latter by a factor of approximately 3/2, this helps to dispel the apparent failure of field theoretical models in predicting the collapse time of the condensate.