2016 Participants
Ryan Doran
Conventional waves, like ripples in a pond, spread out over time. Solitons, however, are remarkable waves which maintain their shape and height over large distances.
Solitons were first reported in a Scottish canal in 1834. These waves have since been observed in systems as diverse as optical fibres, blood circulation and traffic flow. Most recently, solitons have been formed in ultracold quantum gases. These gases are millions of times more dilute than the gas in a room and are only a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. The solitons formed in this gas are roughly the size of the width of a human hair.
In this project we consider a quantum gas with dipolar atoms (so each particle in the gas behaves like a tiny bar magnet). By mathematically minimizing the energy of this ultracold gas, we can theoretically predict the conditions in which solitons are formed.
Funding source: Newcastle University
Supervisor: Dr Nicholas Parker