Numerical method for the stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation

Abstract

We present a method for solving the stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SPGPE) for a three-dimensional Bose gas in a harmonic-oscillator trapping potential. The SPGPE contains the challenge of both accurately evolving all modes in the low energy classical region of the system, and evaluating terms from the number-conserving scattering reservoir process. We give an accurate and efficient procedure for evaluating the scattering terms using a Hermite-polynomial based spectral-Galerkin representation, which allows us to precisely implement the low energy mode restriction. Stochastic integration is performed using the weak semi-implicit Euler method. We extensively characterize the accuracy of our method, finding a faster than expected rate of stochastic convergence. Physical consistency of the algorithm is demonstrated by considering thermalization of initially random states.