Quantum decay of dark solitons

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Quantum Optics
• Atomic Physics

Background:

• Solitons are susceptible to dissipative forces from fluctuating backgrounds.
• At low temperatures, these fluctuations become quantized, impacting soliton stability.
• Understanding these interactions is crucial for controlling soliton behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of quantized thermal fluctuations on soliton properties.
• To determine the lifetime of solitons under quantum fluctuation effects.
• To explore the nature of interactions between solitons mediated by quantum fluctuations.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of soliton dynamics in a fluctuating background.
• Quantization of thermal fluctuations at low temperatures.
• Calculation of soliton lifetime (τ) and interaction forces.

Main Results:

• Soliton lifetime exhibits a dependence on temperature, τ∼T(-4).
• Quantized fluctuations induce long-range interactions between solitons.
• Superradiation mediates these coherent quantum fluctuation interactions.

Conclusions:

• Quantized thermal fluctuations significantly affect soliton stability and interactions.
• The findings are directly applicable to ongoing ultracold atom experiments.
• The theoretical framework can be extended to other soliton-supporting media.