Capillary wave dynamics and interface structure modulation in binary Bose-Einstein condensate mixtures

Abstract

The localized low-energy interfacial excitations, or Nambu-Goldstone modes, of phase-segregated binary mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates are investigated analytically by means of a double-parabola approximation (DPA) to the Lagrangian density in Gross-Pitaevskii theory for a system in a uniform potential. Within this model analytic expressions are obtained for the excitations underlying capillary waves or "ripplons" for arbitrary strength $K\,(>1)$ of the phase segregation. The dispersion relation $\omega \propto k^{3/2}$ is derived directly from the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations in limit that the wavelength $2\pi/k$ is much larger than the healing length $\xi $. The proportionality constant in the dispersion relation provides the static interfacial tension. A correction term in $\omega (k)$ of order $k^{5/2}$ is calculated analytically, entailing a finite-wavelength correction factor $(1+\frac{\sqrt{K-1} \,k\xi}{4\sqrt{2}\,(\sqrt{2}+\sqrt{K-1})})$. This prediction may be tested experimentally using (quasi-)uniform optical-box traps. Explicit expressions are obtained for the structural deformation of the interface due to the passing of the capillary wave. It is found that the amplitude of the wave is enhanced by an amount that is quadratic in the ratio of the phase velocity $\omega/k$ to the sound velocity $c$. For generic asymmetric mixtures consisting of condensates with unequal healing lengths an additional modulation is predicted of the common value of the condensate densities at the interface.