Stability and Population Oscillations in a Spin–Orbit Coupled Bose–Einstein Condensate

Abstract

In this paper, we have investigated the stability and population oscillations in a spin–orbit coupled Bose–Einstein condensate. For the time-independent system parameters, the stability of the steady-state solutions was analyzed with the linear stability theorem. For the asymmetric case, we demonstrated that a larger relative energy can enhance macroscopic quantum self-trapping. A larger relative energy or a stronger population transfer strength can assist or suppress the tunneling rate, depending on the initial population. Finally, the chaotic parameter regions and the chaotic atomic tunneling between two periodically driven Bose–Einstein condensates have been investigated. The results reveal that chaos can notably enhance the tunneling rate. The results could be significant in the quantum transport of the spin–orbit coupled cold-atom system.