Interference of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a hard-wall trap : from nonlinear Talbot effect to formation of vorticity

Ruostekoski, J. and Kneer, B. and Schleich, W.P. and Rempe, G. (2001) Interference of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a hard-wall trap : from nonlinear Talbot effect to formation of vorticity. Physical review a, 63 (4): 043613. ISSN 1050-2947

Abstract

We theoretically study the coherent expansion of a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a confining impenetrable hard-wall potential. The nonlinear dynamics of the macroscopically coherent matter field results in rich and complex spatio-temporal self-interference patterns demonstrating a nonlinear Talbot effect, and the formation of vorticity and solitonlike structures.