From coherent to incoherent dynamical behaviour of quantum atomic gases in periodic potentials Original Research Article

In seminal experiments performed in 1995, alkali atomic gases have been cooled to nanokelvin temperatures to form a new state of matter which shows macroscopic quantum coherence and Bose–Einstein condensation. We give a physics-oriented view of diverse transport behaviours of these Bose–Einstein condensates, which can be explored after solving a nonlinear Schrödinger equation by means of an explicit time-marching algorithm. Coherent and decoherent transport behaviour in periodic potentials is reviewed and new aspects related to chaotic nonlinear dynamics are anticipated.