Nonlinear systems out of equilibrium give rise to vortex and soliton so- lutions that play an important role in high speed optical communication[1], energy transport mechanisms in molecular biology and astrophysics. Col- lective excitations play a paramount role in transport of energy and infor- mation and are of special interest. In order to gain a deeper insight in these phenomena well controlled and exible many body quantum systems at nite temperatures can be used for the simulation of these fundamental collective excitations of the nonlinear Gross-Pitaevski equation (GPE) and their dy- namics. Here we present the experimental observation of quasi 2D soliton like excitations in a disk shaped Bose-Einstein condensate of ⁸⁷Rb. The evolution and their dynamics conned in an ultracold atomic system will be discussed. However, plane solitons in 2D are intrinsically dynamical unstable, leaving the open question of reliable transport mechanism on surfaces in nature. The so-called Jones-Roberts solitons predicted in 1982 are part of the rich fam- ily of formstable soliton solutions with enhanced dynamical stability aspects regarding transport. Here we employ phase imprinting methods for the rst generation of these Jones Roberts solitons in ultracold gases of 87Rb. By tay- loring the optical imprint of a spatial light modulator (SLM), the quantum phase of the Bose-Einstein condensate can be arbitrarily engineered . The evolution and dynamics of Jones Roberts solitons prove them as long lived stable excitations travelling on extended surfaces.


Seminar, July 25, 2016, 15:00. ICFO's Blue Lecture Room Room

Hosted by Prof. Romain Quidant