Abstract
Solitons are among the most distinguishing fundamental excitations in a wide range of nonlinear systems such as water in narrow channels, high-speed optical communication, molecular biology and astrophysics. Stabilized by a balance between spreading and focusing, solitons are wave packets that share some exceptional generic features such as form stability and particle-like properties. Ultracold quantum gases represent very pure and well-controlled nonlinear systems, therefore offering unique possibilities to study soliton dynamics. Here, we report on the observation of long-lived dark and dark–bright solitons with lifetimes of up to several seconds as well as their dynamics in highly stable optically trapped 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensates. In particular, our detailed studies of dark and dark–bright soliton oscillations reveal the particle-like nature of these collective excitations for the first time. In addition, we discuss the collision between these two types of solitary excitation in Bose–Einstein condensates.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG for financial support within the Forschergruppe FOR801 and the GRK 1355. K.B. thanks the EPSRC for financial support through grant EP/E036473/1.
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Becker, C., Stellmer, S., Soltan-Panahi, P. et al. Oscillations and interactions of dark and dark–bright solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates. Nature Phys 4, 496–501 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys962
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys962
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