Motivated by a goal of realizing spin-orbit coupling (SOC) beyond one-dimension (1D), we propose and analyze a method to generate an effective 2D SOC in bilayer BECs with laser-assisted inter-layer tunneling. We show that an interplay between the inter-layer tunneling, SOC and intra-layer atomic interaction can give rise to diverse ground state configurations. In particular, the system undergoes a transition to a new type of stripe phase which spontaneously breaks the time-reversal symmetry. Different from the ordinary Rashba-type SOC, a fractionalized skyrmion lattice emerges spontaneously in the bilayer system without external traps. Furthermore, we predict the occurrence of a tetracritical point in the phase diagram of the bilayer BECs, where four different phases merge together. The origin of the emerging different phases is elucidated.
We show two kinds of inhomogeneous spin domain possessing N{e}el-like domain walls in spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate, which are induced by the positive and negative quadratic Zeeman effect (QZE) respectively. In both cases, the spin density distribution is inhomogeneous and has zeros where the magnetization vanishes. For positive and negative QZE, the spin patterns and topological structures are remarkably different. Such phenomena are due to the pointwise different axisymmetry-breaking caused by the pointwise different population exchange between the sublevels, arising uniquely from the QZE. We analyze in detail the inhomogeneous domain formation and related experimental observations for the spin-1 $^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na condensate.
