Manifestation of superfluidity in atom-number-imbalanced two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

Superfluid and dissipative regimes in the dynamics of a two-component quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with unequal atom numbers in the components have been explored. The system supports localized waves of the symbiotic type owing to the same-species repulsion and cross-species attraction. The minority BEC component moves through the majority component and creates excitations. To quantify the emerging excitations we introduce a time-dependent function called disturbance. Through numerical simulations of the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations with periodic boundary conditions, we have revealed a critical velocity of the localized wave, above which a transition from superfluid to dissipative regime occurs, evidenced by a sharp increase in the disturbance function. The factors responsible for the discrepancy between the actual critical velocity and the speed of sound, expected from theoretical arguments, have been discussed.