Thermodynamics of Solitonic Matter Waves in a Toroidal Trap

TL;DR

This paper explores the thermodynamic behavior of solitonic Bose-Einstein condensates in a toroidal trap, revealing how localized states influence phase transitions and critical temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical study of phase transitions in solitonic matter waves, highlighting the impact of localized states on critical temperature enhancement.

Findings

Stable localized state increases critical temperature.

Existence of metastable localized and uniform states.

Phase transition characterized by symmetry-breaking into bright-soliton condensate.

Abstract

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate with negative scattering length confined in a toroidal trapping potential. By numerically solving the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii and Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, we study the phase transition from the uniform state to the symmetry-breaking state characterized by a bright-soliton condensate and a localized thermal cloud. In the localized regime three states with a finite condensate fraction are present: the thermodynamically stable localized state, a metastable localized state and also a metastable uniform state. Remarkably, the presence of the stable localized state strongly increases the critical temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation.