Bright Bose-Einstein gap solitons of atoms with repulsive interaction

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Jun 11;92(23):230401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.230401. Epub 2004 Jun 8.

Abstract

We report on the first experimental observation of bright matter wave solitons for 87Rb atoms with repulsive atom-atom interaction. This counterintuitive situation arises inside a weak periodic potential, where anomalous dispersion can be realized at the Brillouin zone boundary. If the coherent atomic wave packet is prepared at the corresponding band edge, a bright soliton is formed inside the gap. The strength of our system is the precise control of preparation and real time manipulation, allowing the systematic investigation of gap solitons.