Scattering of atomic dark-bright solitons from narrow impurities

TL;DR

This study investigates how atomic dark-bright solitons in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate interact with narrow impurities, combining experimental observations with systematic simulations to classify different scattering behaviors.

Contribution

The paper provides the first experimental and systematic simulation analysis of dark-bright soliton scattering from narrow impurities, including cases where the impurity affects only one component.

Findings

Experimental evidence of classical particle-like scattering behavior.

Systematic classification of scattering outcomes based on barrier amplitudes.

Insights into how impurity effects vary with barrier size and component specificity.

Abstract

In this work, we study the collision of an atomic dark-bright soliton, in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate, with a Gaussian barrier or well. First, we present the results of an experiment, illustrating the classical particle phenomenology (transmission or reflection) in the case of an equal barrier or well in both components. Then, motivated by the experimental observations, we perform systematic simulations considering not only the case of equal heights, but also the considerably more complex setting, where the potential affects only one of the two components. We systematically classify the ensuing cases within a two-parameter diagram of barrier amplitudes in the two components, and provide intuitive explanations for the resulting observations, as well as of their variations as the size of the barrier changes.