Nonlinear Matter Wave Dynamics with a Chaotic Potential

Abstract

We consider the case of a cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation with an additional chaotic potential, in the sense that such a potential produces chaotic dynamics in classical mechanics. We derive and describe an appropriate semiclassical limit to such a nonlinear Schrödinger equation, using a semiclassical interpretation of the Wigner function, and relate this to the hydrodynamic limit of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation used in the context of Bose-Einstein condensation. We investigate a specific example of a Gross-Pitaevskii equation with such a chaotic potential: the one-dimensional delta-kicked harmonic oscillator, and its semiclassical limit. We explore the feasibility of experimental realization of such a system in a Bose-Einstein condensate experiment, giving a concrete proposal of how to implement such a configuration, and considering the problem of condensate depletion.

20 pages text, 20 gzipped ps and eps figures