📝 SummarXiv

Abstract

We study a transversely pumped atomic Bose--Einstein Condensate coupled to a single-mode optical cavity, where effective atom--atom interactions are mediated by pump and cavity photons. A number of experiments and theoretical works have shown the formation of a superradiant state in this setup, where interference of pump and cavity light leads to an optical lattice in which atoms self-consistently organize. This self-organization has been extensively studied using the approximate Dicke model (truncating to two momentum states), as well as through numerical Gross--Pitaevskii simulations in one and two dimensions. Here, we perform a full mean-field analysis of the system, including all relevant atomic momentum states and the cavity field. We map out the steady-state phase diagram vs pump strength and cavity detuning, and provide an in-depth understanding of the instabilities that are linked to the emergence of spatio-temporal patterns. We find and describe parameter regimes where mean-field predicts bistability, regimes where the dynamics form chaotic trajectories, instabilities caused by resonances between normal mode excitations, and states with atomic dynamics but vanishing cavity field.