Exploring bistability in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates by a quotient transformation invariant continuation method (Q617536)

The authors address certain computational challenges appearing in the numerical study of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate. Due to the rotational invariance the solution set of the equation, or of its discrete version considered in the numerical studies, form a two-dimensional manifold, so that standard continuation methods may not properly follow the solution curves of the equation. The authors propose a quotient transformation invariant continuation method to circumvent this obstacle. As summarized in the introduction in the present paper three points are considered: the quotient transformation invariant continuation method is proposed; the bifurcation properties of the primal stalk solution curve are analyzed analytically; the existence of bistable solutions to the equations are asserted via numerical methods, in accordance with experimental observation.