Modulation instability in quasi two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of modulation instability (MI) in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). The analysis is performed for equal densities of pseudo-spin components. Different combination of the signs of intra- and inter-component interaction strengths are considered, with a particular emphasize on repulsive interactions. We observe that the unstable modulation builds from originally miscible condensates, depending on the combination of the signs of the intra- and inter-component interaction strengths. The repulsive intra- and inter-component interactions admit instability and the MI immiscibility condition is no longer significant. Influence of interaction parameters such as spin-orbit and Rabi coupling on MI are also investigated. The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) inevitably contributes to instability regardless of the nature of the interaction. In the case of attractive interaction, SOC manifest in enhancing the MI. Thus, a comprehensive study of MI in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled binary BECs of pseudo-spin components is presented.