Dynamics of defect-induced dark solitons in an exciton-polariton condensate

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates how a moving defect induces dark solitons in an exciton-polariton condensate, revealing the dependence on pump power and providing analytical and numerical insights into the soliton dynamics and stability.

Contribution

It introduces a variational method adapted to non-equilibrium polariton systems to analytically describe dark soliton dynamics and compares these with numerical simulations.

Findings

Dark soliton emission rate depends on pump power.

Oscillations of drag force relate to soliton dynamics.

Analytical expressions match numerical results.

Abstract

We study theoretically the emission of dark solitons induced by a moving defect in a nonresonantly pumped exciton-polariton condensate. The number of created dark solitons per unit of time is found to be strongly dependent on the pump power. We relate the observed dynamics of this process to the oscillations of the drag force experienced by the condensate. We investigate the stability of the polariton quantum fluid and present various types of dynamics depending on the condensate and moving obstacle parameters. Furthermore, we provide analytical expressions for dark soliton dynamics using the variational method adapted to the non-equilibrium polariton system. The determined dynamical equations are found to be in excellent agreement with the results of numerical simulations.