Extended stream functions for dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensations: Snake instability of dark soliton in ultra-cold atoms as an example

Abstract

In this paper, we formulate extended stream functions (ESFs) to describe the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensations in the two-dimensional space. The ordinary stream function is applicable only for stationary and incompressible superfluids, whereas the ESFs can describe the dynamics of compressible and non-stationary superfluids. The ESFs are composed of two stream functions, i.e., one describes the compressible density modulations and the other the incompressible rotational superflow. As an application, we study the snake instability of the dark soliton in a rectangular potential in detail by the ESFs.