Fragmented many-body states of definite angular momentum and stability of attractive three-dimensional condensates

Marios C. Tsatsos, Alexej I. Streltsov, Ofir E. Alon, Lorenz S. Cederbaum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A three-dimensional attractive Bose-Einstein condensate is expected to collapse when the number of the particles N in the ground state or the interaction strength λ0 exceeds a critical value. We study systems of different particle numbers and interaction strength and find that even if the overall ground state is collapsed there is a plethora of fragmented excited states that are still in the metastable region. Utilizing the configuration interaction expansion we determine the spectrum of the ground ("yrast") and excited many-body states with definite total angular-momentum quantum numbers 0≤L≤N and -L≤ML≤L, and we find and examine states that survive the collapse. This opens up the possibility of realizing a metastable system with overcritical numbers of bosons in a ground state with angular momentum L≠ 0. The multiorbital mean-field theory predictions about the existence of fragmented metastable states with overcritical numbers of bosons are verified and elucidated at the many-body level. The descriptions of the total angular momentum within the mean-field and the many-body approaches are compared.

Original languageEnglish
Article number033613
JournalPhysical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
Volume82
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Sep 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fragmented many-body states of definite angular momentum and stability of attractive three-dimensional condensates'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this