Resonant energy transfer in Bose-Einstein condensates

We consider the dynamics of a dilute, magnetically-trapped one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate whose scattering length is periodically modulated with a frequency that linearly increases in time. We show that the response frequency of the condensate locks to its eigenfrequency for appropriate ranges of the parameters. The locking sets in at resonance, i.e., when the effective frequency of driving field is equal to the eigenfrequency, and is accompanied by a sudden increase of the oscillations amplitude due to resonant energy transfer. We show that the dynamics of the condensate is given, to leading order, by a driven harmonic oscillator on the time-dependent part of the width of the condensate. This equation captures accurately both the locking and the resonant energy transfer as it is evidenced by comparison with direct numerical simulations of original Gross-Pitaevskii equation. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.