Competition between symmetry breaking and onset of collapse in weakly coupled atomic condensates

TL;DR

This paper investigates how symmetry breaking and collapse phenomena compete in weakly coupled atomic condensates modeled by coupled NPSEs, revealing stability regions and the interplay between these effects.

Contribution

It introduces a model based on coupled NPSEs to analyze the competition between symmetry breaking and collapse in atomic condensates.

Findings

Identifies stability regions for symmetric and asymmetric solitons.

Shows the competition between symmetry breaking and collapse.

Maps the parameter space for different dynamical regimes.

Abstract

We analyze the symmetry breaking of matter-wave solitons in a pair of cigar-shaped traps coupled by tunneling of atoms. The model is based on a system of linearly coupled nonpolynomial Schr\"odinger equations (NPSEs). Unlike the well-known spontaneous-symmetry-breaking (SSB) bifurcation in coupled cubic equations, in the present model the SSB competes with the onset of collapse in this system. Stability regions of symmetric and asymmetric solitons, as well as the collapse region, are identified in the parameter space of the system.