Phys. Rev. A 69, 043610 (2004) [8 pages]Formation of shock waves in a Bose-Einstein condensateReceived 29 September 2003; published 16 April 2004 We consider propagation of density wave packets in a Bose-Einstein condensate. We show that the shape of initially broad, laser-induced, density perturbation changes in the course of free time evolution so that a shock wave front finally forms. Our results are well beyond predictions of commonly used zero-amplitude approach, so they can be useful in extraction of a speed of sound from experimental data. We discuss a simple experimental setup for shock propagation and point out possible limitations of the mean-field approach for description of shock phenomena in a Bose-Einstein condensate. © 2004 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.69.043610
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.69.043610
PACS:
03.75.Kk, 47.35.+i
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