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Magnetic Solitons in a Spin-1 Bose-Einstein Condensate

X. Chai, D. Lao, Kazuya Fujimoto, Ryusuke Hamazaki, Masahito Ueda, and C. Raman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 030402 – Published 15 July 2020
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Abstract

Vector solitons are a type of solitary or nonspreading wave packet occurring in a nonlinear medium composed of multiple components. As such, a variety of synthetic systems can be constructed to explore their properties, from nonlinear optics to ultracold atoms, and even in metamaterials. Bose–Einstein condensates have a rich panoply of internal hyperfine levels, or spin components, which make them a unique platform for exploring these solitary waves. However, existing experimental work has focused largely on binary systems confined to the Manakov limit of the nonlinear equations governing the soliton behavior, where quantum magnetism plays no role. Here we observe, using a “magnetic shadowing” technique, a new type of soliton in a spinor Bose–Einstein condensate, one that exists only when the underlying interactions are antiferromagnetic and which is deeply embedded within a full spin-1 quantum system. Our approach opens up a vista for future studies of “solitonic matter” whereby multiple solitons interact with one another at deterministic locations.

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  • Received 2 January 2020
  • Accepted 26 May 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.030402

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Physical Systems
Nonlinear DynamicsAtomic, Molecular & Optical

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Magnetic Solitons in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Published 15 July 2020

Two independent experiments generate self-reinforcing magnetic waves in a condensate containing both spin-up and spin-down atoms.

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Authors & Affiliations

X. Chai1,†, D. Lao1,†, Kazuya Fujimoto2,3, Ryusuke Hamazaki4,5, Masahito Ueda4,6,7, and C. Raman1,*

  • 1School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
  • 2Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
  • 3Department of Applied Physics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
  • 4Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 5Nonequilibrium Quantum Statistical Mechanics RIKEN Hakubi Research Team, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR), RIKEN iTHEMS, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 6Institute for Physics of Intelligence, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 7RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan

  • *Corresponding author. craman@gatech.edu
  • These authors contributed equally to this work.

See Also

Observation of Magnetic Solitons in Two-Component Bose-Einstein Condensates

A. Farolfi, D. Trypogeorgos, C. Mordini, G. Lamporesi, and G. Ferrari
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 030401 (2020)

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Vol. 125, Iss. 3 — 17 July 2020

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