The dynamics of an elongated attractive Bose-Einstein condensate in an axisymmetric harmonic trap is studied. It is shown that density fringes caused by self-interference of the condensate order parameter seed modulational instability. The latter has novel features in contradistinction to the usual homogeneous case known from nonlinear fiber optics. Several open questions in the interpretation of the recent creation of the first matter-wave bright soliton train [K. E. Strecker et al., Nature (London) 417, 150 (2002).] are addressed. It is shown that primary transverse collapse, followed by secondary collapse induced by soliton-soliton interactions, produces bursts of hot atoms at different time scales.

The connection between quantized vortices and dark solitons in a waveguidelike trap geometry is explored in the framework of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Variation of the transverse confinement leads from the quasi-one-dimensional (1D) regime, where solitons are stable, to 2D (or 3D) confinement, where soliton stripes are subject to a transverse modulational instability known as the “snake instability.” We present numerical evidence of a regime of intermediate confinement where solitons decay into single, deformed vortices with solitonic properties rather than vortex pairs as associated with the “snake” metaphor. Further relaxing the transverse confinement leads to the production of two and then three vortices, which correlates perfectly with a Bogoliubov stability analysis. The decay of a stationary dark soliton (or, planar node) into a single solitonic vortex is predicted to be experimentally observable in a 3D harmonically confined dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensate.

We present the experimental discovery of compound structures comprising solitons and vortex rings in Bose-Einstein condensates. We examine both their creation via soliton-vortex collisions and their subsequent development, which is largely governed by the dynamics of interacting vortex rings. A theoretical model in three-dimensional cylindrical symmetry is also presented.

Quantum decay of a relativistic scalar field from a false vacuum is a fundamental idea in quantum field theory. It is relevant to models of the early Universe, where the nucleation of bubbles gives rise to an inflationary universe and the creation of matter. Here we propose a laboratory test using an experimental model of an ultra-cold spinor Bose gas. A false vacuum for the relative phase of two spin components, serving as the unstable scalar field, is generated by means of a modulated radio-frequency coupling of the spin components. Numerical simulations demonstrate the spontaneous formation of true vacuum bubbles with realistic parameters and time-scales.

Matter-wave bright solitons are predicted to reflect from a purely attractive potential well although they are macroscopic objects with classical particle-like properties. The non-classical reflection occurs at small velocities and a pronounced switching to almost perfect transmission above a critical velocity is found, caused by nonlinear mean-field interactions. Full numerical results from the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation are complimented by a two-mode variational calculation to explain the predicted effect, which can be used for velocity filtering of solitons. The experimental realization with laser-induced potentials or two-component Bose-Einstein condensates is suggested.

Atomic Bose-Einstein condensates confined to a dual-ring trap support Josephson vortices as topologically stable defects in the relative phase. We propose a test of the scaling laws for defect formation by quenching a Bose gas to degeneracy in this geometry. Stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii simulations reveal a $-1/4$ power-law scaling of defect number with quench time for fast quenches, consistent with the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Slow quenches show stronger quench-time dependence that is explained by the stability properties of Josephson vortices, revealing the boundary of the Kibble-Zurek regime. Interference of the two atomic fields enables clear long-time measurement of stable defects and a direct test of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in Bose-Einstein condensation.