Creation of gap solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to generate gap solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates using optical traps and laser beams, demonstrating their formation through numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to create gap solitons in BECs via internal state dynamics and optical trapping techniques, applicable to both attractive and repulsive interactions.

Findings

Gap solitons can be launched in BECs using optical traps.

Numerical simulations confirm soliton formation from initial states with velocity.

Method works for both attractive and repulsive atomic interactions.

Abstract

We discuss a method to launch gap soliton-like structures in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates confined in optical traps. Bright vector solitons consisting of a superposition of two hyperfine Zeeman sublevels can be created for both attractive and repulsive interactions between the atoms. Their formation relies on the dynamics of the atomic internal ground states in two far-off resonant counterpropagating sigma^+ sigma^- polarized laser beams which form the optical trap. Numerical simulations show that these solitons can be prepared from a one-component state provided with an initial velocity.