Previous simulations of the one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with repulsive nonlinearity and a harmonic-oscillator trapping potential hint towards the emergence of quasi-integrable dynamics -- in the sense of quasi-periodic evolution o
f a moving dark soliton without any signs of ergodicity -- although this model does not belong to the list of integrable equations. To investigate this problem, we replace the full GPE by a suitably truncated expansion over harmonic-oscillator eigenmodes (the Galerkin approximation), which accurately reproduces the full dynamics, and then analyze the systems dynamical spectrum. The analysis enables us to interpret the observed quasi-integrability as the fact that the finite-mode dynamics always produces a quasi-discrete power spectrum, with no visible continuous component, the presence of the latter being a necessary manifestation of ergodicity. This conclusion remains true when a strong random-field component is added to the initial conditions. On the other hand, the same analysis for the GPE in an infinitely deep potential box leads to a clearly continuous power spectrum, typical for ergodic dynamics.
The non-equilibrium dynamics of trapped ultracold atomic gases, or mixtures thereof, is an extremely rich subject. Despite 20 years of studies, and remarkable progress mainly on the experimental front, numerous open question remain, related to the gr
owth, relaxation and thermalisation of such systems, and there is still no universally-accepted theory for their theoretical description. In this paper we discuss one of the state-of-the-art kinetic approaches, which gives an intuitive picture of the physical processes happening at the microscopic scale, being broadly applicable both below and above the critical region (but not within the critical region itself). Specifically, the Zaremba-Nikuni-Griffin (ZNG) scheme provides a self-consistent description of the coupling between the condensate and the thermal atoms, including the collisions between these two subsystems. It has been successfully tested against experiments in various settings, including collective modes (e.g. monopole, dipole and quadrupole modes), topological excitations (solitons and vortices) and surface evaporative cooling. Here, we show that it can capture two important aspects of non- equilibrium dynamics for both single-component and two-component BECs: the Kohn mode (the undamped dipole oscillation independent of interactions and temperature) and (re)thermalization leading to condensate growth following sudden evaporation. Our simulations, performed in a spherically-symmetric trap reveal (i) an interesting two-stage dynamics and the emergence of a prominent monopole mode in the evaporative cooling of a single component Bose gas, and (ii) the long thermalization time associated with the sympathetic cooling of a realistic two-component mixture. Related open questions arise about the mechanisms and the nature of thermalization in such systems, where further controlled experiments are needed for benchmarking.
We review the stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii approach for non-equilibrium finite temperature Bose gases, focussing on the formulation of Stoof; this method provides a unified description of condensed and thermal atoms, and can thus describe the physics
of the critical fluctuation regime. We discuss simplifications of the full theory, which facilitate straightforward numerical implementation, and how the results of such stochastic simulations can be interpreted, including the procedure for extracting phase-coherent (`condensate) and density-coherent (`quasi-condensate) fractions. The power of this methodology is demonstrated by successful ab initio modelling of several recent atom chip experiments, with the important information contained in each individual realisation highlighted by analysing dark soliton decay within a phase-fluctuating condensate.
In a recent experiment Paoletti et al (Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 154501, 2008) monitored the motion of tracer particles in turbulent superfluid helium and inferred that the velocity components do not obey the Gaussian statistics observed in ordinary turb
ulence. Motivated by their experiment, we create a small turbulent state in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate, which enables us to compute directly the velocity field, and we find similar non-classical power-law tails. Our result thus suggests that non-Gaussian turbulent velocity statistics describe a fundamental property of quantum fluids. We also track the decay of the vortex tangle in the presence of the thermal cloud.
