Spectroscopy of dark soliton states in Bose-Einstein condensates

Experimental and numerical studies of the velocity field of dark solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates are presented. The formation process after phase imprinting as well as the propagation of the emerging soliton are investigated using spatially resolved Bragg spectroscopy of soliton states in Bose-Einstein condensates of Rb-87. A comparison of experimental data to results from numerical simulations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation clearly identifies the flux underlying a dark soliton propagating in a Bose-Einstein condensate. The results allow further optimization of the phase imprinting method for creating collective excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates.