Interaction control and bright solitons in coherently-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates rapid control of interatomic interactions in a coherently coupled Bose-Einstein condensate, leading to the formation of bright solitons and soliton trains, with experimental results aligning with theoretical models.

Contribution

It introduces a method for fast interaction control in BECs via coherent coupling, enabling observation of soliton formation and dynamics.

Findings

Good agreement between experimental data and theoretical models.

Observation of bright solitons in the attractive interaction regime.

Development of soliton trains following an interaction quench.

Abstract

We demonstrate fast control of the interatomic interactions in a Bose-Einstein condensate by coherently coupling two atomic states with intra- and inter-state scattering lengths of opposite signs. We measure the elastic and inelastic scattering properties of the system and find good agreement with a theoretical model describing the interactions between dressed states. In the attractive regime, we observe the formation of bright solitons formed by dressed-state atoms. Finally, we study the response of the system to an interaction quench from repulsive to attractive values, and observe how the resulting modulational instability develops into a bright soliton train.