Collisions of three-component vector solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to prepare and observe collisions of three-component vector solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates, revealing their dynamics align with the integrable three-component Manakov model.

Contribution

It introduces a deterministic scheme for creating multi-component solitons in BECs and analyzes their collision properties within an integrable model framework.

Findings

Successful preparation of three-component solitons via local spin rotations

Observation of distinctive collisional behaviors of vector solitons

Quantitative agreement with the integrable Manakov model

Abstract

Ultracold gases provide an unprecedented level of control for the investigation of soliton dynamics and collisions. We present a scheme for deterministically preparing pairs of three-component solitons in a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our method is based on local spin rotations which simultaneously imprint suitable phase and density distributions. This enables us to observe striking collisional properties of the vector degree of freedom which naturally arises for the coherent nature of the emerging multi-component solitons. We find that the solitonic properties in the quasi-one-dimensional system are quantitatively described by the integrable repulsive three-component Manakov model.