Aleksandra Maluckov

Stable Periodic Density Waves in Dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensates Trapped in Optical Lattices

Density-wave patterns in discrete media with local interactions are known to be unstable. We demonstrate that stable double- and triple-period patterns (DPPs and TPPs), with respect to the period of the underlying lattice, exist in media with nonlocal nonlinearity. This is shown in detail for dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates, loaded into a deep one-dimensional optical lattice. The DPP and TPP emerge via phase transitions of the second and first kind, respectively. The emerging patterns may be stable if the dipole-dipole interactions are repulsive and sufficiently strong, in comparison with the local repulsive nonlinearity. Within the set of the considered states, the TPPs realize a minimum of the free energy. A vast stability region for the TPPs is found in the parameter space, while the DPP stability region is relatively narrow. The same mechanism may create stable density-wave patterns in other physical media featuring nonlocal interactions.

Tamm oscillations in semi-infinite nonlinear waveguide arrays

We demonstrate the existence of nonlinear Tamm oscillations at the interface between a substrate and a one-dimensional waveguide array with either cubic or saturable, self-focusing or self-defocusing nonlinearity. Light is trapped in the vicinity of the array boundary due to the interplay between the repulsive edge potential and Bragg reflection inside the array. In the special case when this potential is linear these oscillations reduce themselves to surface Bloch oscillations.

Discrete vortex solitons in dipolar Bose–Einstein condensates

We analyse the existence, stability and dynamics of localized discrete modes with intrinsic vorticity S = 1 and S = 2 in the disc-shaped dipolar Bose‐Einstein condensate loaded into a deep two-dimensional optical lattice. The condensate, which features the interplay of local contact and nonlocal dipole‐dipole (DD) interactions between atoms, is modelled by the 2D discrete Gross‐Pitaevskii equation which includes the long-range DD term. Various species of discrete vortex solitons, which are known in the model of the condensate with local interactions, are found to exist in the presence of the DD interaction too. In locally self-attractive condensates, the isotropic DD repulsion, which corresponds to the orientation of atomic dipoles perpendicular to the confinement plane, helps to extend the region of the vortex stability, while in the case of anisotropic DD interactions, corresponding to the in-plane orientation of the dipoles, vortices are unstable. In the former case, those vortices which are unstable may evolve into robust ring-shaped breathers. The attractive isotropic DD interaction can create localized vortices in the condensate with the local self-repulsion, but they all are unstable, evolving into single-peak asymmetric structures. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Dynamics of dark breathers in lattices with saturable nonlinearity

The problems of the existence, stability, and transversal motion of the discrete dark localized modes in the lattices with saturable nonlinearity are investigated analytically and numerically. The stability analysis shows existence of regions of the parametric space with eigenvalue spectrum branches with non-zeroth real part, which indicates possibility for the propagation of stable on-site and inter-site dark localized modes. The analysis based on the conserved system quantities reveals the existence of regions with a vanishing Peierls-Nabarro barrier which allows transverse motion of the dark breathers. Propagation of the stable on-site and inter-site dark breathers and their free transversal motion are observed numerically.

Observation of linear and nonlinear strongly localized modes at phase-slip defects in one-dimensional photonic lattices

We investigate light localization at a single phase-slip defect in one-dimensional photonic lattices, both numerically and experimentally. We demonstrate the existence of various robust linear and nonlinear localized modes in lithium niobate waveguide arrays exhibiting saturable defocusing nonlinearity.

Discrete localized modes supported by an inhomogeneous defocusing nonlinearity.

We report that infinite and semi-infinite lattices with spatially inhomogeneous self-defocusing (SDF) onsite nonlinearity, whose strength increases rapidly enough toward the lattice periphery, support stable unstaggered (UnST) discrete bright solitons, which do not exist in lattices with the spatially uniform SDF nonlinearity. The UnST solitons coexist with stable staggered (ST) localized modes, which are always possible under the defocusing onsite nonlinearity. The results are obtained in a numerical form and also by means of variational approximation (VA). In the semi-infinite (truncated) system, some solutions for the UnST surface solitons are produced in an exact form. On the contrary to surface discrete solitons in uniform truncated lattices, the threshold value of the norm vanishes for the UnST solitons in the present system. Stability regions for the novel UnST solitons are identified. The same results imply the existence of ST discrete solitons in lattices with the spatially growing self-focusing nonlinearity, where such solitons cannot exist either if the nonlinearity is homogeneous. In addition, a lattice with the uniform onsite SDF nonlinearity and exponentially decaying intersite coupling is introduced and briefly considered. Via a similar mechanism, it may also support UnST discrete solitons. The results may be realized in arrayed optical waveguides and collisionally inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in deep optical lattices. A generalization for a two-dimensional system is briefly considered.

High- and low-frequency phonon modes in dipolar quantum gases trapped in deep lattices

We study normal modes propagating on top of the stable uniform background in arrays of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) droplets trapped in a deep optical lattice. Both the on-site mean-field dynamics of the droplets and their displacement due to the repulsive dipole-dipole interactions (DDIs) are taken into account. Dispersion relations for two modes, \textit{viz}., high- and low- frequency counterparts of optical and acoustic phonon modes in condensed matter, are derived analytically and verified by direct simulations, for both cases of the repulsive and attractive contact interactions. The (counterpart of the) optical-phonon branch does not exist without the DDIs. These results are relevant in the connection to emerging experimental techniques enabling real-time imaging of the condensate dynamics and direct experimental measurement of phonon dispersion relations in BECs.

Surface solitons in trilete lattices

Abstract Fundamental solitons pinned to the interface between three semi-infinite one-dimensional nonlinear dynamical chains, coupled at a single site, are investigated. The light propagation in the respective system with the self-attractive on-site cubic nonlinearity, which can be implemented as an array of nonlinear optical waveguides, is modeled by the system of three discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equations. The formation, stability and dynamics of symmetric and asymmetric fundamental solitons centered at the interface are investigated analytically by means of the variational approximation (VA) and in a numerical form. The VA predicts that two asymmetric and two antisymmetric branches exist in the entire parameter space, while four asymmetric modes and the symmetric one can be found below some critical value of the inter-lattice coupling parameter—actually, past the symmetry-breaking bifurcation. At this bifurcation point, the symmetric branch is destabilized and two new asymmetric soliton branches appear, one stable and the other unstable. In this area, the antisymmetric branch changes its character, getting stabilized against oscillatory perturbations. In direct simulations, unstable symmetric modes radiate a part of their power, staying trapped around the interface. Highly unstable asymmetric modes transform into localized breathers traveling from the interface region across the lattice without significant power loss.

Localized modes in mini-gaps opened by periodically modulated intersite coupling in two-dimensional nonlinear lattices

Spatially periodic modulation of the intersite coupling in two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear lattices modifies the eigenvalue spectrum by opening mini-gaps in it. This work aims to build stable localized modes in the new bandgaps. Numerical analysis shows that single-peak and composite two- and four-peak discrete static solitons and breathers emerge as such modes in certain parameter areas inside the mini-gaps of the 2D superlattice induced by the periodic modulation of the intersite coupling along both directions. The single-peak solitons and four-peak discrete solitons are stable in a part of their existence domain, while unstable stationary states (in particular, two-soliton complexes) may readily transform into robust localized breathers.

Long-lived double periodic patterns in dipolar cigar-shaped Bose?Einstein condensates in an optical lattice

Periodic patterns with doubled lattice periodicity (DPP) that originate from the modulationally unstable continuous-wave (CW)-type state are found in dipolar Bose–Einstein condensates loaded into a deep one-dimensional optical lattice. The DPP can be created in the presence of any type of contact and/or dipole–dipole (DD) interaction in the system. The main finding is the possibility of creating the stable DPP branch from the CW solution via supercritical pitchfork bifurcation in a condensate with the repulsive contact and certain values of the repulsive DD interaction parameters. In all other combinations of interaction types, we showed that close to the anticontinuum limit DPPs are long-lived, while the instability grows with an increase of the inter-site coupling.