Breaking a Superfluid Harmonic Dam: Observation and Theory of Riemann Invariants and Accelerating Sonic Horizons
An experimental and theoretical study of sonic horizons emerging from the dam-break problem in a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in an anisotropic harmonic trap is presented. Measurements, analysis, and numerics reveal the formation of a sonic horizon that undergoes acceleration due to harmonic confinement. The superfluid is characterized using a robust measurement technique to determine Riemann invariants. Experimental observations agree with an analytical solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and computations. The collision and annihilation between two sonic horizons at long times is predicted.
Authors
- Patrick Sprenger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6654-8974)
- Mark A. Hoefer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5883-6562)
- Maren Mossman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3954-7831)
- Judith Gonzalez Sorribes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1071-6624)
- Peter Engels (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1093-9471)
- Boaz Ilan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1119-8756)
- Shashwat Sharan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7822-0057)
Institutions
- University of California, Merced (US)
- University of San Diego (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Colorado System (US)
- Washington State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-11-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/38f7-ym2v
- Primary Topic
- Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00