We present the theory for ultracold atomic gases in an optical lattice near a Feshbach resonance. In the single-band approximation the theory describes atoms and molecules which can both tunnel through the lattice. Moreover, an avoided crossing between the two-atom and the molecular states occurs at every site. We determine the microscopic parameters of the generalized Hubbard model that describes this physics, using the experimentally known parameters of the Feshbach resonance in the absence of the optical lattice. As an application we also calculate the zero-temperature phase diagram of an atomic Bose gas in an optical lattice.Comment: Published version, 4 pages, 3 Figure

We investigate the structure and collective modes of a planar surface of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensed gas at zero temperature. In the long-wavelength limit we find a mode similar to the gravity wave on the surface of a fluid with the frequency ω and the wavenumber q related by ω 2 = F q/m. Here F is the force due to the confining potential at the surface and m is the particle mass. At shorter wavelengths we use a variational approach and find corrections to ω 2 of order q 4 ln q. We demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of an effective surface tension for describing both static and dynamic properties of condensed atomic clouds.

We derive exact solitonic solutions of a class of Gross-Pitaevskii equations with time-dependent harmonic trapping potential and interatomic interaction. We find families of exact single-solitonic, multi-solitonic, and solitary wave solutions. We show that, with the special case of an oscillating trapping potential and interatomic interaction, a soliton can be localized indefinitely at an arbitrary position. The localization is shown to be experimentally possible for sufficiently long time even with only an oscillating trapping potential and a constant interatomic interaction.

We use the tools of the J-matrix method to evaluate the S-matrix and then deduce the bound and resonance states energies for singular screened Coulomb potentials, both analytic and piecewise differentiable. The Jmatrix approach allows us to absorb the 1/r singularity of the potential in the reference Hamiltonian, which is then handled analytically. The calculation is performed using an infinite square integrable basis that supports a tridiagonal matrix representation for the reference Hamiltonian. The remaining part of the potential, which is bound and regular everywhere, is treated by an efficient numerical scheme in a suitable basis using Gauss quadrature approximation. To exhibit the power of our approach we have considered the most delicate region close to the boundunbound transition and compared our results favorably with available numerical data.

We study the flow of bright solitons through two asymmetric potential wells. The scattering of a soliton by certain type of single potential wells, e.g., Gaussian or Rosen-Morse, is distinguished by a critical velocity above which solitons can transmit almost completely and below which solitons can reflect nearly perfectly. For two such wells in series with certain parameter combinations, we find that there is an appreciable velocity range for which solitons can propagate in one direction only. Our study shows that this directional propagation or diode behavior is due to a combined effect of the sharp transition in the transport coefficients at the critical velocity and a slight reduction in the center-of-mass speed of the soliton while it travels across a potential well.

We derive classes of exact solitonic solutions of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation with repulsive and attractive interatomic interactions. The solutions correspond to a string of bright solitons with phase difference between adjacent solitons equal to pi. While the relative phase, width, and distance between adjacent solitons turn out to be a constant of the motion, the center of mass of the string moves with a constant acceleration arising from the inhomogeneity of the background.

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The center-of-mass dynamics of a vortex in the surface region of a Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated both analytically using a variational calculation and numerically by solving the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We find, in agreement with previous works, that away from the Thomas-Fermi surface, the vortex moves parallel to the surface of the condensate with a constant velocity. We obtain an expression for this velocity in terms of the distance of the vortex core from the Thomas-Fermi surface that fits accurately with the numerical results. We find also that, coupled to its motion parallel to the surface, the vortex oscillates along the direction normal to the surface around a minimum point of an effective potential.