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In the framework of coupled 1D Gross-Pitaevskii equations, we explore the dynamics of a binary Bose-Einstein condensate where the intra-component interaction is repulsive, while the inter-component one is attractive. The existence regimes of stable self-trapped localized states in the form of symbiotic solitons have been analyzed. Imbalanced mixtures, where the number of atoms in one component exceeds the number of atoms in the other component, are considered in parabolic potential and box-like trap. When all the intra-species and inter-species interactions are repulsive, we numerically find a new type of symbiotic solitons resembling dark-bright solitons. A variational approach has been developed which allows us to find the stationary state of the system and frequency of small amplitude dynamics near the equilibrium. It is shown that the strength of inter-component coupling can be retrieved from the frequency of the localized state's vibrations., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

To establish a closer contact between school and experimental sciences, Sapienza Universit\`a di Roma and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) launched the Lab2Go project. Lab2Go has the goal of spreading laboratory practice among students and teachers in high schools. In this article, it is presented a measurement, carried out in the framework of the Lab2Go project, of the ratio hc/e where h, c and e are respectively the Planck constant, the speed of light in the vacuum, and the electric charge.

The properties of a supersolid state (SS) in quasi-one-dimensional dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate is studied, considering two possible mechanisms of realization - due to repulsive three-body atomic interactions and quantum fluctuations in the framework of the Lee-Huang-Yang (LHY) theory. The proposed theoretical model, based on minimization of the energy functional, allows evaluating the amplitude of the SS for an arbitrary set of parameters in the governing Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE). To explore the dynamics of the SS first, we numerically construct its ground state in different settings, including periodic boundary conditions, box-like trap and parabolic potential, then impose a perturbation. In oscillations of the perturbed supersolid we observe the key manifestation of SS, namely the free flow of the superfluid fraction through the crystalline component of the system. Two distinct oscillation frequencies of the supersolid associated with the superfluid fraction and crystalline components of the wave function are identified from numerical simulations of the GPE., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures

The existence of stable bound states of three solitons in a Bose-Einstein condensate with nonlocal interactions is demonstrated by means of variational approach (VA) and numerical simulations. The potential of interaction between solitons derived from VA is shown to be of molecular type, i.e. attractive at long distances and repulsive at short distances. Normal modes of a three-soliton molecule are investigated by computing small amplitude oscillations of individual solitons near their equilibrium positions. Symmetric and asymmetric stretched states of the molecule are prepared and used as initial conditions in numerical simulations of the nonlocal Gross-Pitaevskii equation. As opposed to usual triatomic molecules, we find that the frequency of the asymmetric mode of a three-soliton molecule is smaller than the one of the symmetric mode. Possible experimental settings for the observation of these results are briefly discussed.

Binary mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in deep optical lattices and subjected to equal contributions of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (SOC), are investigated in the presence of a periodic time modulation of the Zeeman field. SOC tunability is explicitly demonstrated by adopting a mean-field tight-binding model for the BEC mixture and by performing an averaging approach in the strong modulation limit. In this case, the system can be reduced to an unmodulated vector discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with a rescaled SOC tunning parameter $\alpha$, which depends only on the ratio between amplitude and frequency of the applied Zeeman field. The dependence of the spectrum of the linear system on $\alpha$ has been analytically characterized. In particular, we show that extremal curves (ground and highest excited states) of the linear spectrum are continuous piecewise functions (together with their derivatives) of $\alpha$, which consist of a finite number of decreasing band lobes joined by constant lines. This structure also remains in presence of not too large nonlinearities. Most important, the interactions introduce a number of localized states in the band-gaps that undergo change of properties as they collide with band lobes. The stability of ground states in the presence of the modulating field has been demonstrated by real time evolutions of the original (un-averaged) system. Localization properties of the ground state induced by the SOC tuning, and a parameter design for possible experimental observation have also been discussed., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

The existence of multidimensional lattice compactons in the discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in the presence of fast periodic time modulations of the nonlinearity is demonstrated. By averaging over the period of the fast modulations, a new effective averaged dynamical equation arises with coupling constants involving Bessel functions of the first and zeroth kind. These terms allow one to solve, at this averaged level, for exact discrete compacton solution configurations in the corresponding stationary equation. We focus on seven types of compacton solutions: single site and vortex solutions are found to be always stable in the parametric regimes we examined. Other solutions such as double site in- and out-of-phase, four site symmetric and anti-symmetric, and a five site compacton solution are found to have regions of stability and instability in two-dimensional parametric planes, involving variations of the strength of the coupling and of the nonlinearity. We also explore the time evolution of the solutions and compare the dynamics according to the averaged with those of the original dynamical equations without the averaging. Possible observation of compactons in the BEC loaded in a deep two-dimensional optical lattice with interactions modulated periodically in time is discussed.

The existence of compacton matter waves in binary mixtures of quasi one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates in deep optical lattices and in the presence of nonlinearity management, is first demonstrated. For this, we derive an averaged vector discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation (DNLSE) and show that compacton solutions of different types can exist as stable excitations. Stability properties are studied by linear analysis and by direct numerical integrations of the DNLSE system and their dependence on the inter- and intra-species scattering lengths, investigated. We show that under proper management conditions, compactons can be very robust excitations that can emerge spontaneously from generic initial conditions. A possible experimental setting for compacton observation is also discussed., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, Physical Review A in press

Nonreciprocal microwave transmission through a long Josephson junction in the flux-flow regime is studied analytically and numerically within the framework of the perturbed sine-Gordon model. We demonstrate that the maximum attenuation of the transmitted power occurs when the direction of the flux flow is opposite to the direction of the microwave propagation. This attenuation is nonreciprocal with respect to the flux-flow direction and can be enhanced by increasing the system length and proper impedance matching of the junction ends to external transmission line., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

The existence and stability of domain walls (DWs) and bubble-droplet (BD) states in binary mixtures of quasi-one-dimensional ultracold Bose gases with inter- and intra-species repulsive interactions is considered. Previously, DWs were studied by means of coupled systems of Gross-Pitaevskii equations (GPEs) with cubic terms, which model immiscible binary Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). We address immiscible BECs with two- and three-body repulsive interactions, as well as binary Tonks--Girardeau (TG) gases, using systems of GPEs with cubic and quintic nonlinearities for the binary BEC, and coupled nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equations with quintic terms for the TG gases. Exact DW\ solutions are found for the symmetric BEC mixture, with equal intra-species scattering lengths. Stable asymmetric DWs in the BEC mixtures with dissimilar interactions in the two components, as well as of symmetric and asymmetric DWs in the binary TG gas, are found by means of numerical and approximate analytical methods. In the BEC system, DWs can be easily put in motion by phase imprinting. Combining a DW and anti-DW on a ring, we construct BD states for both the BEC and TG models. These consist of a dark soliton in one component (the "bubble"), and a bright soliton (the "droplet") in the other. In the BEC system, these composite states are mobile too., Comment: Phys. Rev. A, in press

The resonant scattering of gap solitons (GS) of the periodic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with a localized defect which is symmetric under the parity and the time-reversal (PT) symmetry, is investigated. It is shown that for suitable amplitudes ratios of the real and imaginary parts of the defect potential the resonant transmission of the GS through the defect becomes possible. The resonances occur for potential parameters which allow the existence of localized defect modes with the same energy and norm of the incoming GS. Scattering properties of GSs of different band-gaps with effective masses of opposite sign are investigated. The possibility of unidirectional transmission and blockage of GSs by PT defect, as well as, amplification and destruction induced by multiple reflections from two PT defects, are also discussed.

We investigate, both analytically and numerically, the quasi-superfluidity properties of periodic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in a quasi-one-dimensional (1D) ring with optical lattices (OL) of different kinds (linear and nonlinear) and with a moving defect of an infinite mass inside. To study the dynamics of the condensate we used a mean-field approximation describing the condensate by use of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the order parameter. We show that the resonant scattering of sound Bloch waves with the defect profoundly affect BEC superfluidity. In particular, a moving defect always leads to the breakdown of superfluidity independently of the value of its velocity. For weak periodic potentials the superfluidity breakdown may occur on a very long time scale (quasisuperfluidity) but the breakdown process can be accelerated by increasing the strength of the OL. Quite remarkably, we find that when the length of the ring is small enough to imply the discreteness of the reciprocal space, it becomes possible to avoid the resonant scattering and to restore quasi-superfluidity., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

Superfluid properties of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in toroidal quasi-one-dimensional traps are investigated in the presence of periodic scattering length modulations along the ring. The existence of several types of stable periodic waves, ranging from almost uniform to very fragmented chains of weakly interacting and equally spaced solitons, is demonstrated. We show that these waves may support persistent atomic currents and sound waves with spectra of Bogoliubov type. Fragmented condensates can be viewed as arrays of Josephson junctions and the current as a BEC manifestation of the dc-Josephson effect. The influence of linear defects on BEC superfluidity has been also investigated. We found that for subcritical velocities, linear defects that are static with respect to the lattice (while the condensate moves in respect to both the optical lattice and the defect) preserve the BEC superfluidity.

We investigate the dynamics of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), composed of atoms in two distinct hyperfine states, which are linearly coupled by two-photon Raman transitions. The condensate is loaded into a double-well potential (DWP). A variety of dynamical behaviors, ranging from regular Josephson oscillations, to mixed Rabi-Josephson oscillations and to regimes featuring an increasing complexity, are described in terms of a reduced Hamiltonian system with four degrees of freedoms, which are the numbers of atoms in each component in the left and right potential wells, whose canonically conjugate variables are phases of the corresponding wave functions. Using the system with the four degrees of freedom, we study the dynamics of fractional imbalances of the two bosonic components, and compare the results to direct simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equations (GPEs) describing the bosonic mixture. We perform this analysis when the fractional imbalance oscillates around a zero-time averaged value and in the self-trapping regime as well., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys

Ratchet dynamics of topological solitons of the forced and damped discrete double sine-Gordon system are studied. Directed transport occurring both in regular and in chaotic regions of the phase space and its dependence on damping, amplitude and frequency of the driving, asymmetry parameter, coupling constant, has been extensively investigated. We show that the passage from ratchet phase-locked regime to chaotic ratchets occurs via a period doubling route to chaos and that, quite surprisingly, pinned states can exist inside phase-locking and chaotic transport regions for intermediate values of the coupling constant. The possibility to control chaotic discrete soliton ratchets by means of both small subharmonic signals and more general periodic drivings, has also been investigated.

Exact solutions for the generalized nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) equation with inhomogeneous complex linear and nonlinear potentials are found. We have found localized and periodic solutions for a wide class of localized and periodic modulations in the space of complex potentials and nonlinearity coefficients. Examples of stable and unstable solutions are given. We also demonstrated numerically the existence of stable dissipative breathers in the presence of an additional parabolic trap., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures

The existence of compactons in the discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in the presence of fast periodic time modulations of the nonlinearity is demonstrated. In the averaged DNLS equation the resulting effective inter-well tunneling depends on modulation parameters {\it and} on the field amplitude. This introduces nonlinear dispersion in the system and can lead to a prototypical realization of single- or multi-site stable discrete compactons in nonlinear optical waveguide and BEC arrays. These structures can dynamically arise out of Gaussian or compactly supported initial data., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

It is demonstrated the existence of multidimensional matter-wave solitons in a crossed optical lattice (OL) with linear OL in the $x-$direction and nonlinear OL (NOL) in the $y-$direction, where the NOL can be generated by a periodic spatial modulation of the scattering length using an optically induced Feshbach resonance. In particular, we show that such crossed linear and nonlinear OL allows to stabilize two-dimensional (2D) solitons against decay or collapse for both attractive and repulsive interactions. The solutions for the soliton stability are investigated analytically, by using a multi-Gaussian variational approach (VA), with the Vakhitov-Kolokolov (VK) necessary criterion for stability; and numerically, by using the relaxation method and direct numerical time integrations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE). Very good agreement of the results corresponding to both treatments is observed., Comment: 8 pages (two-column format), with 16 eps-files of 4 figures

We study the exact dynamics of a one-dimensional spin-polarized gas of fermions in a double-well potential at zero and finite temperature. Despite the system is made of non-interacting fermions, its dynamics can be quite complex, showing strongly aperiodic spatio-temporal patterns during the tunneling. The extension of these results to the case of mixtures of spin-polarized fermions in interaction with self-trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) at zero temperature is considered as well. In this case we show that the fermionic dynamics remains qualitatively similar to the one observed in absence of BEC but with the Rabi frequencies of fermionic excited states explicitly depending on the number of bosons and on the boson-fermion interaction strength. From this, the possibility to control quantum fermionic dynamics by means of Feshbach resonances is suggested., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A

The phenomenon of dynamical localization of matter wave solitons in optical lattices is first demonstrated and the conditions for its existence are discussed. In addition to the trapping linear periodic potential we use a periodic modulation of the nonlinearity in space to eliminate nonexistence regions of gap-solitons in reciprocal space. We show that when this condition is achieved, the observation of dynamical localization in true nonlinear regime becomes possible. The results apply to all systems described by the periodic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation, including Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices and arrays of waveguides or photonic crystals in nonlinear optics., Comment: accepted for Europhysics Letters

The existence of bright solitons in the model of the Tonks-Girardeau (TG) gas with dipole-dipole (DD) interactions is reported. The governing equation is taken as the quintic nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation (NLSE) with the nonlocal cubic term accounting for the DD attraction. In different regions of the parameter space (the dipole moment and atom number), matter-wave solitons feature flat-top or compacton-like shapes. For the flat-top states, the NLSE with the local cubic-quintic (CQ) nonlinearity is shown to be a good approximation. Specific dynamical effects are studied assuming that the strength of the DD interactions is ramped up or drops to zero. Generation of dark-soliton pairs in the gas shrinking under the action of the intensifying DD attraction is observed. Dark solitons exhibit the particle-like collision behavior. Peculiarities of dipole solitons in the TG gas are highlighted by comparison with the NLSE including the local CQ terms. Collisions between the solitons are studied too. In many cases, the collisions result in merger of the solitons into a breather, due to strong attraction between them., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted by J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys

We consider the dynamics of dark matter solitons moving through non-uniform cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates described by the mean field Gross-Pitaevskii equation with generalized nonlinearities, in the case when the condition for the modulation stability of the Bose-Einstein condensate is fulfilled. The analytical expression for the frequency of the oscillations of a deep dark soliton is derived for nonlinearities which are arbitrary functions of the density, while specific results are discussed for the physically relevant case of a cubic-quintic nonlinearity modeling two- and three-body interactions, respectively. In contrast to the cubic Gross-Pitaevskii equation for which the frequencies of the oscillations are known to be independent of background density and interaction strengths, we find that in the presence of a cubic-quintic nonlinearity an explicit dependence of the oscillations frequency on the above quantities appears. This dependence gives rise to the possibility of measuring these quantities directly from the dark soliton dynamics, or to manage the oscillation via the changes of the scattering lengths by means of Feshbach resonance. A comparison between analytical results and direct numerical simulations of the cubic-quintic Gross-Pitaevskii equation shows good agreement which confirms the validity of our approach., Comment: submitted in J. Phys. B

Inter-band Rabi oscillations of gap soliton matter waves induced by time dependent periodic forces in combined linear and nonlinear optical lattices are for the first time demonstrated. It is shown that under suitable conditions these oscillations can become long-lived. By switching off the external force at proper time it is possible to create either pure (stationary macroscopically populated) gap soliton states or linear combination of two gap solitons with appreciably long life-time.

We show the existence of gap-Townes solitons for the multidimensional Gross-Pitaeviskii equation with attractive interactions and in two- and three-dimensional optical lattices. In absence of the periodic potential the solution reduces to the known Townes solitons of the multi-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation, sharing with these the propriety of being unstable against small norm (number of atoms) variations. We show that in the presence of the optical lattice the solution separates stable localized solutions (gap-solitons) from decaying ones, characterizing the delocalizing transition occurring in the multidimensional case. The link between these higher dimensional solutions and the ones of one dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with higher order nonlinearities is also discussed., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures

The creation and propagation of sound waves in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) are investigated and a new method of wave generation in binary BEC mixtures is proposed. The method is based on a fast change of the inter-species interaction constant and is illustrated for two experimental settings: a drop-like condensate immersed into a second large repulsive condensate, and a binary mixture of two homogeneous repulsive BEC's. A mathematical model based on the linearized coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations is developed and explicit formulae for the space and time dependence of sound waves are provided. Comparison of the analytical and numerical results shows excellent agreement, confirming the validity of the proposed approach., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures

It is shown that by properly designing the spatial dependence of the nonlinearity it is possible to induce long-living Bloch oscillations of a localized wavepacket in a periodic potential. The results are supported both by analytical and numerical investigations and are interpreted in terms of matter wave dynamics displaying dozens of oscillation periods without any visible distortion of the wave packet., Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

The properties of the localized states of a two component Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a nonlinear periodic potential [nonlinear optical lattice] are investigated. We reveal the existence of new types of solitons and study their stability by means of analytical and numerical approaches. The symmetry properties of the localized states with respect to the NOL are also investigated. We show that nonlinear optical lattices allow the existence of bright soliton modes with equal symmetry in both components, bright localized modes of mixed symmetry type, as well as, dark-bright bound states and bright modes on periodic backgrounds. In spite of the quasi 1D nature of the problem, the fundamental symmetric localized modes undergo a delocalizing transition when the strength of the nonlinear optical lattice is varied. This transition is associated with the existence of an unstable solution, which exhibits a shrinking (decaying) behavior for slightly overcritical (undercritical) variations in the number of atoms., Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures

We study localized modes in binary mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates embedded in one-dimensional optical lattices. We report a diversity of asymmetric modes and investigate their dynamics. We concentrate on the cases where one of the components is dominant, i.e. has much larger number of atoms than the other one, and where both components have the numbers of atoms of the same order but different symmetries. In the first case we propose a method of systematic obtaining the modes, considering the "small" component as bifurcating from the continuum spectrum. A generalization of this approach combined with the use of the symmetry of the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations allows obtaining breather modes, which are also presented., Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures

Perturbed version of the complex Toda chain (CTC) has been employed to describe adiabatic interactions within N-soliton train of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLS). Perturbations induced by weak quadratic and periodic external potentials are studied by both analytical and numerical means. It is found that the perturbed CTC adequately models the N-soliton train dynamics for both types of potentials. As an application of the developed theory we consider the dynamics of a train of matter - wave solitons confined to a parabolic trap and optical lattice, as well as tilted periodic potentials. In the last case we demonstrate that there exist critical values of the strength of the linear potential for which one or more localized states can be extracted from a soliton train. An analytical expression for these critical strengths for expulsion is also derived., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, RevTeX

In this paper we consider Wannier functions of quasi-periodic g-gap ($g\geq 1$) potentials and investigate their main properties. In particular, we discuss the problem of averaging underlying the definition of Wannier functions for both periodic and quasi-periodic potentials and express Bloch functions and quasi-momenta in terms of hyperelliptic $\sigma$ functions. Using this approach we derive a power series expansion of the Wannier function for quasi-periodic potentials valid at $|x|\simeq 0$ and an asymptotic expansion valid at large distance. These functions are important for a number of applied problems.

We analyze perturbed version of the complex Toda chain (CTC) in an attempt to describe the adiabatic N - soliton train interactions of the perturbed nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation (NLS). We study perturbations with weak quadratic and periodic external potentials by both analytical and numerical means. The perturbed CTC adequately models the N - soliton train dynamics for both types of potentials. As an application of the developed theory we consider the dynamics of a train of matter - wave solitons confined in a parabolic trap and optical lattice, as well as tilted periodic potential., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; added subsection and references

Experimental observation of the unidirectional motion of a topological soliton driven by a bi-harmonic ac force of zero mean is reported. The observation is made by measuring the current-voltage characteristics for a fluxon trapped in an annular Josephson junction that was placed into a microwave field. The measured dependence of the fluxon mean velocity (rectified voltage) at zero dc bias versus the phase shift between the first and second harmonic of the driving force is in qualitative agreement with theoretical expectations., Comment: 6 figures

A theory of the non-symmetric Landau-Zener tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates in deep optical lattices is presented. It is shown that periodic exchange of matter between the bands is described by a set of linearly coupled nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equations. The key role of the modulational instability in rendering the inter-band transitions irreversible is highlighted., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

The possibility that the sliding motion of proteins on DNA is influenced by the base sequence through a base pair reading interaction, is considered. Referring to the case of the T7 RNA-polymerase, we show that the protein should follow a noise-influenced sequence-dependent motion which deviate from the standard random walk usually assumed. The general validity and the implications of the results are discussed., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures

A new class of models, generalizing Asymmetric Exclusion Process for many parallel interacting channels, is proposed. We couple the models with boundary reservoirs, study boundary-driven phase transitions and show that usually taken hydrodynamic description fails. The adequate hydrodynamic limit is then derived. We support our findings with Monte-Carlo simulations of the original stochastic system., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figs, to appear in PRE