The non-Abelian bosonic quantum ring

We investigate the dynamics of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate which is governed by an optically induced non-Abelian gauge potential. Using a ring shaped trap to confine the atoms and a hydrodynamic ansatz, nonlinear Josephson type equations are found to describe the system. The degenerate eigenstates which show rotation are solved exactly. We consider a homogenous filled ring and observe population dynamics between the two quasi-spin components but also space dependent Josephson oscillations. Stable mass currents can be observed which are induced by the constant non-Abelian effective magnetic field in the limit of weak interactions. For strong interactions the appearance of two-component dark soliton-like objects are observed. © EDP Sciences, Societá Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2010.