Transfer of Bose-Einstein condensates through discrete breathers in an optical lattice

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.053604· OSTI ID:21528684

Hennig, H ^[1]; Dorignac, J ^[2]; Campbell, D K ^[2]

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1. Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, D-37073 Goettingen (Germany)
2. Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215 (United States)

We study the effect of discrete breathers (DBs) on the transfer of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in an optical lattice using the discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation. In previous theoretical (primarily numerical) investigations of the dynamics of BECs in leaking optical lattices, collisions between a DB and a lattice excitation, e.g., a moving breather (MB) or phonon, were studied. These collisions led to the transmission of a fraction of the incident (atomic) norm of the MB through the DB, while the DB can be shifted in the direction of the incident lattice excitation. Here we develop an analytic understanding of this phenomenon, based on the study of a highly localized system--namely, a nonlinear trimer--which predicts that there exists a total energy threshold of the trimer, above which the lattice excitation can trigger the destabilization of the DB and that this is the mechanism leading to the movement of the DB. Furthermore, we give an analytic estimate of upper bound to the norm that is transmitted through the DB. We then show numerically that a qualitatively similar threshold exists in extended lattices. Our analysis explains the results of the earlier numerical studies and may help to clarify functional operations with BECs in optical lattices such as blocking and filtering coherent (atomic) beams.

• OSTI ID: 21528684
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.053604; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ATOMIC BEAMS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
COHERENT RADIATION
CRYSTAL LATTICES
EXCITATION
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PHONONS
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
BEAMS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EQUATIONS
MATHEMATICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
QUASI PARTICLES
RADIATIONS
WAVE EQUATIONS