Inflationary dynamics and particle production in a toroidal Bose-Einstein condensate

We present a theoretical study of the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped inside an expanding toroid that can realize an analog inflationary universe. As the system expands, we find that phonons in the BEC undergo redshift and damping due to quantum pressure effects, owing to the thinness of the ring. We predict that rapidly expanding toroidal BEC's can exhibit spontaneous particle creation, and study this phenomenon in the context of an initial coherent state wave function. We show how particle creation would be revealed in the atom density and density correlations, and discuss connections to the cosmological theory of inflation.

Automated summary

This theoretical study examines the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped inside an expanding toroid that mimics an inflationary universe. As the system expands, phonons in the BEC experience redshift and damping, leading to spontaneous particle creation and impacting atom density and density correlations. The predictions and findings in this study provide insights into connections between the dynamics of BEC and inflationary cosmological theories.