Control of light-atom solitons and atomic transport by optical vortex beams propagating through a Bose-Einstein Condensate

TL;DR

This paper models how optical vortex beams can create and control light-atom solitons in a Bose-Einstein Condensate, enabling precise atomic transport and manipulation using light's angular momentum.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for controlling atomic transport in a BEC via optical vortex beams, demonstrating formation and manipulation of coupled light/atomic solitons.

Findings

Coupled light/atomic solitons form and rotate azimuthally in BEC.

The number and velocity of solitons depend on the optical field's angular momentum.

Bessel-Gauss beams enhance radial confinement, stabilizing soliton rotation.

Abstract

We model propagation of far-red-detuned optical vortex beams through a Bose-Einstein Condensate using nonlinear Schr\"odinger and Gross-Pitaevskii equations. We show the formation of coupled light/atomic solitons that rotate azimuthally before moving off tangentially, carrying angular momentum. The number, and velocity, of solitons, depends on the orbital angular momentum of the optical field. Using a Bessel-Gauss beam increases radial confinement so that solitons can rotate with fixed azimuthal velocity. Our model provides a highly controllable method of channelling a BEC and atomic transport.