Wave patterns generated by a flow of two-component Bose-Einstein condensate with spin-orbit interaction past a localized obstacle

Abstract

It is shown that spin-orbit interaction leads to drastic changes in wave patterns generated by a flow of two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) past an obstacle. The combined Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction affects in different ways two types of excitations---density and polarization waves---which can propagate in a two-component BEC. We show that the density and polarization "ship wave" patterns rotate in opposite directions around the axis located at the obstacle position and the angle of rotation depends on the strength of spin-orbit interaction. This rotation is accompanied by narrowing of the Mach cone. The influence of spin-orbit coupling on density solitons and polarization breathers is studied numerically.