Quantum effects in the dynamical localization of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices

Abstract

We study quantum effects in the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded onto the edge of a Brillouin zone of a one-dimensional periodic potential created by an optical lattice. We show that quantum fluctuations trigger the dynamical instability of the Bloch states of the condensate and can lead to the generation of arrays of matter-wave gap solitons. Our approach also allows us to study the instability-induced anomalous heating of the condensate at the edge of the Brillouin zone and growth of the uncondensed atomic fraction. We demonstrate that there are regimes in which the heating effects do not suppress the formation of the localised states. We show that a phase imprinting technique can ensure the formation of gap soliton trains after short evolution times and at fixed positions.