Motion of a condensate in a shaken and vibrating harmonic trap

TL;DR

This paper analytically investigates the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a time-dependent harmonic trap, revealing soliton-like behavior and detailed phase evolution affecting coherence.

Contribution

It provides an analytical solution for the BEC wavepacket motion and phase dynamics in arbitrary time-dependent harmonic traps, a novel approach in the field.

Findings

Wavepacket exhibits soliton-like dynamics.

Analytical expressions for center motion and phase are derived.

Phase evolution influences BEC coherence properties.

Abstract

The dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a time-dependent harmonic trapping potential is determined for arbitrary variations of the position of the center of the trap and its frequencies. The dynamics of the BEC wavepacket is soliton-like. The motion of the center of the wavepacket, and the spatially and temporally dependent phase (which affects the coherence properties of the BEC) multiplying the soliton-like part of the wavepacket, are analytically determined.