Bose-Einstein beams: Coherent propagation through a guide

We compute the stationary profiles of a coherent beam of Bose-Einstein-condensed atoms propagating through a guide. Special emphasis is put on the effect of a disturbing obstacle present in the trajectory of the beam. The obstacle considered (such as a bend in the guide, or a laser field perpendicular to the beam) results in a repulsive or an attractive potential acting on the condensate. Different behaviors are observed when the beam velocity (with respect to the speed of sound), the size of the obstacle (relative to the healing length), and the intensity and sign of the potential are varied. The existence of bound states of the condensate is also considered.