Effects of a rotating periodic lattice on coherent quantum states in a ring topology: The case of negative nonlinearity

Abstract

We study the spectrum and stationary states in a ring-shaped lattice potential in the context of ultracold atoms with attractive interatomic interactions. We determine analytical solutions in the absence of a lattice by mapping them to those for repulsive interactions, and then we numerically follow the transformation of those solutions as the lattice is introduced and strengthened. Several features emerge that are specific to negative nonlinearity, that include: Soliton branches detaching to create new ground states; gaps opening up at the bottom of the primary spectral branch; multiple splitting and rejoining of some branches. We correlate the spectral features with the behavior of the density and phase of the corresponding eigenstates, and track them along branches and as various system parameters change. We find that the phase is sensitive to how a specific point in the spectrum is approached, particularly relevant at certain persistent gaps in the spectrum. The symmetry and stability properties are generally found to be opposite of that found for repulsive interactions.