Motivated by the recent achievement of space-based Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) with ultracold alkali-metal atoms under microgravity and by the proposal of bubble traps which confine atoms on a thin shell, we investigate the BEC thermodynamics on the surface of a sphere. We determine analytically the critical temperature and the condensate fraction of a noninteracting Bose gas. Then we consider the inclusion of a zero-range interatomic potential, extending the noninteracting results at zero and finite temperature. Both in the noninteracting and interacting cases the crucial role of the finite radius of the sphere is emphasized, showing that in the limit of infinite radius one recovers the familiar two-dimensional results. We also investigate the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition driven by vortical configurations on the surface of the sphere, analyzing the interplay of condensation and superfluidity in this finite-size system.

The recent developments of microgravity experiments with ultracold atoms have produced a relevant boost in the study of shell-shaped ellipsoidal Bose-Einstein condensates. For realistic bubble-trap parameters, here we calculate the critical temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation, which, if compared to the one of the bare harmonic trap with the same frequencies, shows a strong reduction. We simulate the zero-temperature density distribution with the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, and we study the free expansion of the hollow condensate. While part of the atoms expands in the outward direction, the condensate self-interferes inside the bubble trap, filling the hole in experimentally observable times. For a mesoscopic number of particles in a strongly interacting regime, for which more refined approaches are needed, we employ quantum Monte Carlo simulations, proving that the nontrivial topology of a thin shell allows superfluidity. Our work constitutes a reliable benchmark for the forthcoming scientific investigations with bubble traps.

Ultracold quantum gases are highly controllable and thus capable of simulating difficult quantum many-body problems ranging from condensed matter physics to astrophysics. Although experimental realizations have so far been restricted to flat geometries, recently also curved quantum systems, with the prospect of exploring tunable geometries, have been produced in microgravity facilities as ground-based experiments are technically limited. Here, we analyze bubble-trapped condensates, in which the atoms are confined on the surface of a thin spherically symmetric shell by means of external magnetic fields. A thermally induced proliferation of vorticity yields a vanishing of superfluidity. We describe the occurrence of this topological transition by conceptually extending the theory of Berezinskii, Kosterlitz, and Thouless for infinite uniform systems to such finite-size systems. Unexpectedly, we find universal scaling relations for the mean critical temperature and the finite width of the superfluid transition. Furthermore, we elucidate how they could be experimentally observed in finite-temperature hydrodynamic excitations.

Recent experimental and theoretical results show that weakly interacting atomic Bose-Bose mixtures with attractive interspecies interaction are stabilized by beyond-mean-field effects. Here we consider the peculiar properties of these systems in a strictly one-dimensional configuration, taking also into account the nontrivial role of spin-orbit and Rabi couplings. We show that when the value of inter- and intraspecies interaction strengths are such that mean-field contributions to the energy cancel, a self-bound bright soliton fully governed by quantum fluctuations exists. We derive the phase diagram of the phase transition between a single-peak soliton and a multipeak (striped) soliton, produced by the interplay between spin-orbit, Rabi couplings and beyond-mean-field effects, which also affect the breathing mode frequency of the atomic cloud. Finally, we prove that a phase imprinting of the single-peak soliton leads to a self-confined propagating solitary wave even in the presence of spin-orbit coupling.

Progress in understanding quantum systems has been driven by the exploration of the geometry, topology, and dimensionality of ultracold atomic systems. The NASA Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) aboard the International Space Station has enabled the study of ultracold atomic bubbles, a terrestrially-inaccessible topology. Proof-of-principle bubble experiments have been performed on CAL with an radiofrequency-dressing technique; an alternate technique (dual-species interaction-driven bubbles) has also been proposed. Both techniques can drive discovery in the next decade of fundamental physics research in microgravity.