Dynamical formation and interaction of bright solitary waves and solitons in the collapse of Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive interactions

Abstract

We model the dynamics of formation of multiple, long-lived, bright solitary waves (BSWs) in the collapse of Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive interactions as studied in the experiment of Cornish et al (2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 170401). We use both mean-field and approximate quantum field simulation techniques. While a number of separated wave packets form as observed in the experiment, they do not have a repulsive n phase difference as has been previously inferred. We observe that the inclusion of quantum fluctuations causes soliton dynamics to be predominantly repulsive in one-dimensional (ID) simulations independent of their initial relative phase. However, indicative 3D simulations do not show a similar effect. In contrast, in 3D quantum noise has a negative impact on BSW lifetimes. Finally, we show that condensate oscillations, after the collapse, may serve to deduce three-body © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.