[en] The relative importance of density and phase fluctuations in ultracold one-dimensional atomic Bose gases is investigated. By defining appropriate characteristic temperatures for their respective onset, a broad experimental regime is found, where density fluctuations set in at a lower temperature than phase fluctuations. This is in stark contrast to the usual experimental regime explored up to now, in which phase fluctuations are largely decoupled from density fluctuations, a regime also recovered in this work as a limiting case. Observation of the regime of dominant density fluctuations is shown to be well within current experimental capabilities for both ²³Na and ⁸⁷Rb, requiring relatively low temperatures, small atom numbers, and moderate aspect ratios

[en] The dependence of the three lowest order spatial correlation functions of a harmonically confined Bose gas on temperature and interaction strength is presented at equilibrium. Our analysis is based on a stochastic Langevin equation for the order parameter of a weakly interacting gas. Comparison of the predicted first order correlation functions to those of appropriate mean field theories demonstrates the potentially crucial role of density fluctuations on the equilibrium coherence length. Furthermore, the change in both coherence length and shape of the correlation function, from Gaussian to exponential, with increasing temperature is quantified. Moreover, the presented results for higher order correlation functions are shown to be in agreement with existing predictions. Experimentalists often define a 'quasi-condensate' via bimodal density fits, and this work reveals how consideration of local density-density correlations provides an alternative determination of this quantity

[en] The stability of a low-temperature Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interactions in one- and three-dimensional double-well potentials is discussed. In particular, the tunnelling dynamics of a condensate under the influence of a time-dependent potential gradient is investigated. The condensate is shown to collapse at a critical potential gradient which corresponds to a critical number of atoms in one of the two wells. The sensitivity of this tunnelling-induced collapse could provide a useful tool in the study of condensates with attractive interactions

[en] This paper discusses the feasibility of experimental control of the flow direction of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in a double-well potential using phase imprinting. The flow is induced by the application of a time-dependent potential gradient, providing a clear signature of macroscopic quantum tunnelling in atomic condensates. By studying both initial-state preparation and subsequent tunnelling dynamics, we find the parameters to optimize the phase-induced Josephson current. We find that the effect is largest for condensates of up to a few thousand atoms, and is only weakly dependent on trap geometry

[en] The stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation is shown to be an excellent model for quasi-one-dimensional Bose gas experiments, accurately reproducing the in situ density profiles recently obtained in the experiments of Trebbia et al.[Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 250403 (2006)] and van Amerongen et al.[Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 090402 (2008)] and the density fluctuation data reported by Armijo et al.[Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 230402 (2010)]. To facilitate such agreement, we propose and implement a quasi-one-dimensional extension to the one-dimensional stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the low-energy, axial modes, while atoms in excited transverse modes are treated as independent ideal Bose gases.

[en] The dynamics of a dark soliton in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate is studied at finite temperatures. In addition to accurately reproducing all stages of the decay of the soliton observed in the experiment of Burger et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 5198 (1999)], our numerical simulations reveal the existence of an experimentally accessible parameter regime for which phase-imprinted dark solitons can execute at least one full axial oscillation prior to their decay. The dependence of the decay time scale on temperature and initial soliton depth is analyzed and the role of interatomic collisions quantified

[en] A long-range soliton interaction is discussed whereby two or more dark solitons interact in an inhomogeneous atomic condensate, modifying their respective dynamics via the exchange of sound waves without ever coming into direct contact. An idealized double-well geometry is shown to yield perfect energy transfer and complete periodic identity reversal of the two solitons. Two experimentally relevant geometries are analyzed which should enable the observation of this long-range interaction.

[en] A dark soliton becomes unstable when it is incident on a background density gradient, and the induced instability results in the emission of sound. Detailed quantitative studies of sound emission are performed for various potentials, such as steps, linear ramps and Gaussian traps. The amount of sound emission is found to be a significant fraction of the soliton energy for typical potentials. Continuous emission of sound is found to lead to an apparent deformation of the soliton profile. The power emitted by the soliton is shown to be parametrized by the square of the displacement of the centre of mass of the soliton from its density minimum, thus highlighting the significance of the inhomogeneity-induced soliton deformation

[en] We discuss and model an experiment to study quasicondensate growth on an atom chip. In particular, we consider the addition of a deep dimple to the weak harmonic trap confining an ultracold one-dimensional atomic Bose gas, below or close to the characteristic temperature for quasicondensate formation. The subsequent dynamics depends critically on both the initial conditions and the form of the perturbing potential. In general, the dynamics features a combination of shock-wave propagation in the quasicondensate and quasicondensate growth from the surrounding thermal cloud

[en] We demonstrate the feasibility of generation of quasi-stable counter-propagating solitonic structures in an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate confined in a realistic toroidal geometry, and identify optimal parameter regimes for their experimental observation. Using density engineering we numerically identify distinct regimes of motion of the emerging macroscopic excitations, including both solitonic motion along the azimuthal ring direction, such that structures remain visible after multiple collisions even in the presence of thermal fluctuations, and snaking instabilities leading to the decay of the excitations into vortical structures. Our analysis, which considers both mean field effects and fluctuations, is based on the ring trap geometry of Murray et al (2013 Phys. Rev. A 88 053615). (paper)