Mean-field description of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates

We perform numerical simulations based on the time-dependent mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation to understand some aspects of a recent experiment by Donley et al. [Nature (London) 412, 295 (2001)] on the dynamics of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates of ⁸⁵Rb atoms. These authors manipulated the atomic interaction by an external magnetic field via a Feshbach resonance, thus changing the repulsive condensate into an attractive one, and vice versa. In the actual experiment they suddenly changed the scattering length of atomic interaction from a positive to a large negative value on a preformed condensate in an axially symmetric trap. Consequently, the condensate collapsed and ejected atoms via explosion. We find that the present mean-field analysis can explain some aspects of the dynamics of the collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates.