Soliton-soliton scattering in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We analyze the scattering of bright solitons in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates placed in unconnected layers. Whereas for short-range interactions unconnected layers are independent, a remarkable consequence of the dipole interaction is the appearance of nonlocal interlayer effects. In particular, we show that both for one- and two-dimensional solitons the interlayer interaction leads to an effective molecular potential between disconnected solitons, which induces a complex scattering physics between them, that includes inelastic fusion into soliton molecules, and strong inelastic resonances. In addition, contrary to the short-range interacting case, a two-dimensional soliton scattering is possible, in which inelastic spiraling occurs, resembling phenomena in photorefractive materials.