Parametric excitations in a harmonically trapped binary Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract: We investigate parametric excitation and pattern formation in a harmonically trapped two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. Near the miscible-immiscible phase transition, the excitations of total density and spin density are decoupled. By periodically modulating the atomic scattering lengths, spin-dependent Faraday patterns can be generated with the two components exhibiting an out-of-phase density oscillation. In an elongated condensate, the density pattern along the longitudinal direction corresponds to a one-dimensional spin Faraday pattern, where the modulation frequency and the spatial oscillation period are related to the velocity of the spin sound. After the spin pattern is fully developed, the system quickly enters a nonlinear destabilization regime. For a pancake-shaped condensate, a two-dimensional Faraday pattern is generated with an interesting l-fold rotational symmetry. The number of nodes along the radial and angular directions increases with larger modulation frequencies. We also compare the growth rates of spin Faraday patterns generated with different modulation protocols, which are accessible to current experiments.