# Collisions of self-bound quantum droplets

## TL;DR

This study investigates binary collisions of quantum droplets, revealing how their outcomes depend on velocity and size, and demonstrating their liquid-like properties in the large atom number limit.

## Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of the liquid-like behavior of quantum droplets and elucidates the dependence of critical velocity on droplet size and regime crossover.

## Key findings

- Critical velocity varies with droplet size and regime.
- Collision outcomes are merging or separation.
- Quantum droplets exhibit liquid-like behavior at large atom numbers.

## Abstract

We report on the study of binary collisions between quantum droplets formed by an attractive mixture of ultracold atoms. We distinguish two main outcomes of the collision, i.e. merging and separation, depending on the velocity of the colliding pair. The critical velocity $v_c$ that discriminates between the two cases displays a different dependence on the atom number $N$ for small and large droplets. By comparing our experimental results with numerical simulations, we show that the non-monotonic behavior of $v_c(N)$ is due to the crossover from a compressible to an incompressible regime, where the collisional dynamics is governed by different energy scales, i.e. the droplet binding energy and the surface tension. These results also provide the first evidence of the liquid-like nature of quantum droplets in the large $N$ limit, where their behavior closely resembles that of classical liquid droplets.