Collapse of a Bose condensate with attractive interactions

1998/03/25 by José A. Freire, Jose A. Freire, Daniel P. Arovas · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #cond-mat.stat-mech

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.59.1461

8 pages, 10 encapsulated PostScript figures

arxiv created 1998/03/25 · openalex publication_date 1999/02/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We examine the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) model for Bose-Einstein condensates in parabolic traps with attractive interactions. The decay of metastable condensates is investigated by applying the instanton formalism to the GP field theory. Employing various dynamical trial states, we derive within a coherent state path integral approach a collective coordinate description in terms of the condensate radius, in agreement with (and extending) earlier results. We then solve numerically for the complete instanton field configuration and compare with the collective coordinate approach. Adjusting only the effective mass of the collective coordinate, the two schemes are then in good agreement.

Citations

• Quantum Nucleation of Phase Slips in a1DModel of a Superfluid
• Macroscopic quantum tunneling of a bose condensate

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