Generation and interaction of solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates

Generation, interaction, and detection of dark solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates are studied. In particular, we focus on the dynamics resulting from phase imprinting and density engineering. We show that solitons slow down significantly when the trap is opened and that soliton phase shifts after binary interactions cannot be observed with present experiments. Finally, motivated by the recent experimental results of Cornish et al. [Phys. Rev Lett. 85, 1795 (2000)], we analyze the stability of dark solitons under changes of the scattering length and thereby demonstrate a new way to detect them. Our theoretical and numerical results compare well with the existing experimental ones and provide guidance for future experiments.