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One of the central principles of quantum mechanics is that if there are multiple paths that lead to the same event, and there is no way to distinguish between them, interference occurs. It is usually assumed that distinguishing information in the preparation, evolution or measurement of a system is sufficient to destroy interference. For example, determining which slit a particle takes in Young's double slit experiment or using distinguishable photons in the two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel effect allow discrimination of the paths leading to detection events, so in both cases interference vanishes. Remarkably for more than three independent quantum particles, distinguishability of the prepared states is not a sufficient condition for multiparticle interference to disappear. Here we experimentally demonstrate this for four photons prepared in pairwise distinguishable states, thus fundamentally challenging intuition of multiparticle interference., Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures

Quantum states and the modes of the optical field they occupy are intrinsically connected. Here, we show that one can trade the knowledge of a quantum state to gain information about the underlying mode structure and, vice versa, the knowledge about the modal shape allows one to perform a complete tomography of the quantum state. Our scheme can be executed experimentally using the interference between the signal and probe states on an unbalanced beam splitter with a single on/off-type detector. By changing the temporal overlap between the signal and the probe, the imperfect interference is turned into a powerful tool to extract the information about the signal mode structure. A single on/off detector is already sufficient to collect the necessary measurement data for the reconstruction of the diagonal part of the density matrix of an arbitrary multi-mode signal. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of our scheme with just one control parameter -- the time-delay of a coherent probe field., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

We explore the conditions under which identical particles in unitary linear networks behave as the other species, i.e. bosons as fermions and fermions as bosons. It is found that the Boson-Sampling computer of Aaronson & Arkhipov can be implemented in an interference experiment with non-interacting fermions in an appropriately entangled state. Moreover, a scheme is proposed which simulates the scattershot version of the Boson-Sampling computer by preparing, on the fly, the required entangled state of fermions from an unentangled one., Comment: Minor misprints corrected. 19 pages; 3 figures (one colored)

The combination of the interference with the amplification of modes in a waveguide with gain and losses can result in a giant amplification of the propagating beam, which propagates without distortion of its average amplitude. An increase of the gain-loss gradient by only a few times results in a magnification of the beam by a several orders of magnitude., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table; accepted for Physics Letters A

We derive a two-band finite-dimensional model for description of the condensate tunneling in an accelerating optical lattice, taking into account the fine Bloch band structure. The model reveals a very strong dependence of the final band populations on the initial populations and phases. Most importantly, additionally to the known asymmetric dependence on the nonlinearity, there is also a notable asymmetry in the sensitivity of the tunneling probability to the nonliearity-induced initial population of the Bloch band to which the tunneling takes place. This fact can explain the experimentally observed unexpected independence of the upper-to-lower tunneling probablity on the nonlinearity. Finally, we compare the predictions of the two-band model with that of the well-known nonlinear Landau-Zener model and find disagreement when the two bands are initially populated. The disagreement can be qualitative and reveals itself even for a negligible nonlinearity. However, the two models agree remarkably well if just one band is populated initially., Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. Revised section V and changed figure 7. To appear in J. Phys. B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

The quantum instability of the mean-field theory for identical bosons is shown to be described by an appropriate Bogoliubov transformation. A connection between the quantum and classical linear stability theories is indicated. It is argued that the instability rate in a system of identical bosons must be strongly affected by the nonlinear terms (interactions). In the case of the repulsive interactions or strong attractive interactions the instability rate is suppressed. On the other hand, a weak attraction significantly enhances the instability rate. The results can have applications in the field of Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute quantum gases., Comment: 12 pages. 2 figures. To appear in Physics Letters A

We predict the existence of an energy barrier for collapse in a system of two tunnel-coupled repulsive and attractive quasi two-dimensional condensates trapped in a double-well potential. The ground state in such a system can have a lower energy than that of the collapsing state. We find such ground states numerically and analytically determine the domain of their existence, they have a much larger share of atoms confined in the repulsive condensate. The energy barrier for collapse is due to the fact that the energy of the system increases if atoms tunnel from the repulsive condensate to the attractive one., Comment: Latex, 14 pages, 4 figures

We introduce Rayleigh functional for nonlinear systems. It is defined using the energy functional and the normalization properties of the variables of variation. The key property of the Rayleigh quotient for linear systems is preserved in our definition: the extremals of the Rayleigh functional coincide with the stationary solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equation. Moreover, the second variation of the Rayleigh functional defines stability of the solution. This gives rise to a powerful numerical optimization method in the search for the energy minimizers. It is shown that the well-known imaginary time relaxation is a special case of our method. To illustrate the method we find the stationary states of Bose-Einstein condensates in various geometries. Finally, we show that the Rayleigh functional also provides a simple way to derive analytical identities satisfied by the stationary solutions of the critical nonlinear equations. We also show that the functional used in Phys. Rev. A 66, 036612 (2002) is erroneous., Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures; revised and extended

We study, analytically and numerically, the stationary states in the system of two linearly coupled nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equations in two spatial dimensions, with the nonlinear interaction coefficients of opposite signs. This system is the two-dimensional analog of the coupled-mode equations for a condensate in the double-well trap [\textit{Physical Review A} \textbf{69}, 033609 (2004)]. In contrast to the one-dimensional case, where the bifurcation from zero leads to stable bright solitons, in two spatial dimensions this bifurcation results in the appearance of unstable soliton solutions (the Townes-type solitons). With the use of a parabolic potential the ground state of the system is stabilized. It corresponds to strongly coupled condensates and is stable with respect to collapse. This is in sharp contrast to the one-dimensional case, where the ground state corresponds to weakly coupled condensates and is unstable. Moreover, the total number of atoms of the stable ground state can be much higher than the collapse threshold for a single two-dimensional condensate with a negative s-wave scattering length., Comment: revised; 33 pages, 7 figures

We study solitons in the condensate trapped in a double-well potential with far-separated wells, when the s-wave scattering length has different signs in the two parts of the condensate. By employing the coupled-mode approximation it is shown that there are unusual stable bright solitons in the condensate, with the larger share of atoms being gathered in the repulsive part. Such unusual solitons derive their stability from the quantum tunneling and correspond to the strong coupling between the parts of the condensate. The ground state of the system, however, corresponds to weak coupling between the condensate parts, with the larger share of atoms being gathered in the attractive part of the condensate., Comment: LaTex, 23 pages, 6 figures; revised version; to appear in Physical Review A

We consider the ground state properties of mixed Bose-Einstein condensates of 87Rb and 85Rb atoms in the isotropic pancake trap, for both signs of the interspecies scattering length. In the case of repulsive interspecies interaction, there are the axially-symmetric and symmetry-breaking ground states. The threshold for the symmetry breaking transition, which is related to appearance of a zero dipole-mode, is found numerically. For attractive interspecies interactions, the two condensates assume symmetric ground states for the numbers of atoms up to the collapse instability of the mixture., Comment: Revised; 21 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review A

We consider vortices in the nonlocal two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation with the interaction potential having the Lorentz-shaped dependence on the relative momentum. It is shown that in the Fourier series expansion with respect to the polar angle the unstable modes of the axial $n$-fold vortex have orbital numbers $l$ satisfying $0<|l|<2|n|$, similar as in the local model. Numerical simulations show that nonlocality slightly decreases the threshold rotation frequency above which the nonvortex state ceases to be the global energy minimum and decreases the frequency of the anomalous mode of the 1-vortex. In the case of higher axial vortices, nonlocality leads to the instability against splitting with creation of antivortices and gives rise to additional anomalous modes with higher orbital numbers. Despite new instability channels with creation of antivortices, for a stationary solution comprised of vortices and antivortices there always exist another vortex solution, comprised solely of vortices, with the same total vorticity but with a lower energy., Comment: Second revision: small changes; 23 pages; 8 figures

We investigate, analytically and numerically, families of bright solitons in a system of two linearly coupled nonlinear Schrodinger/Gross-Pitaevskii equations, describing two Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in an asymmetric double-well potential, in particular, when the scattering lengths in the condensates have arbitrary magnitudes and opposite signs. The solitons are found to exist everywhere where they are permitted by the dispersion law. Using the Vakhitov-Kolokolov criterion and numerical methods, we show that, except for small regions in the parameter space, the solitons are stable to small perturbations. Some of them feature self-trapping of almost all the atoms in the condensate with no atomic interaction or weak repulsion coupled to the self-attractive condensate. An unusual bifurcation is found, when the soliton bifurcates from the zero solution without a visible jump in the shape, but with a jump in the number of trapped atoms. By means of numerical simulations, it is found that, depending on values of the parameters and the initial perturbation, unstable solitons either give rise to breathers or completely break down into incoherent waves ("radiation"). A version of the model with the self-attraction in both components, which applies to the description of dual-core fibers in nonlinear optics, is considered too, and new results are obtained for this much studied system., Comment: Latex (Elsart), 34 pages, 12 figures; Appendix A (the derivation) is extended, small revisions in the text; Physica D, in press

The soliton dressing matrices for the higher-order zeros of the Riemann-Hilbert problem for the $N$-wave system are considered. For the elementary higher-order zero, i.e. whose algebraic multiplicity is arbitrary but the geometric multiplicity is 1, the general soliton dressing matrix is derived. The theory is applied to the study of higher-order soliton solutions in the three-wave interaction model. The simplest higher-order soliton solution is presented. In the generic case, this solution describes the breakup of a higher-order pumping wave into two higher-order elementary waves, and the reverse process. In non-generic cases, this solution could describe ($i$) the merger of a pumping sech wave and an elementary sech wave into two elementary waves (one sech and the other one higher-order); ($ii)$ the breakup of a higher-order pumping wave into two elementary sech waves and one pumping sech wave; and the reverse processes. This solution could also reproduce fundamental soliton solutions as a special case., Comment: Revised version; 33 pages; 5 figures; to appear in Studies of Applied Mathematics