2004/05/18 by Lincoln D. Carr, L. D. Carr, Joachim Brand +1 · 78 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Atomic physics #Bose–Einstein condensate #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Laser #Nonlinear system #Optics #Physics #Pulse (music) #Quantum mechanics #Scattering #Soliton #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #Trap (plumbing) #cond-mat.soft #nlin.PS
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.70.033607
published in Physical Review A 70(3) (American Physical Society) · 11 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2004/05/18 · openalex publication_date 2004/09/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
It is shown that simultaneously changing the scattering length of an elongated, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate from positive to negative and inverting the axial portion of the trap, so that it becomes expulsive, results in a train of self-coherent solitonic pulses. Each pulse is itself a nondispersive attractive Bose-Einstein condensate that rapidly self-cools. The axial trap functions as a waveguide. The solitons can be made robustly stable with the right choice of trap geometry, number of atoms, and interaction strength. Theoretical and numerical evidence suggests that such a pulsed atomic soliton laser can be made in present experiments.