We demonstrate that there exist stationary states of Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical lattice that do not satisfy the usual Bloch periodicity condition. Using the discrete model appropriate to the tight-binding limit we determine energy bands for period-doubled states in a one-dimensional lattice. In a complementary approach we calculate the band structure from the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, considering both states of the usual Bloch form and states which have the Bloch form for a period equal to twice that of the optical lattice. We show that the onset of dynamical instability of states of the usual Bloch form coincides with the occurrence of period-doubled states with the same energy. The period-doubled states are shown to be related to periodic trains of solitons.

Motivated by recent experiments on Faraday waves in Bose-Einstein condensates we investigate both analytically and numerically the dynamics of cigar-shaped Bose-condensed gases subject to periodic modulation of the strength of the transverse confinement. We offer a fully analytical explanation of the observed parametric resonance, based on a Mathieu-type analysis of the nonpolynomial Schrödinger equation. The theoretical prediction for the pattern periodicity versus the driving frequency is directly compared with the experimental data, yielding good qualitative and quantitative agreement between the two. These results are corroborated by direct numerical simulations of both the one-dimensional non-polynomial Schrödinger equation and of the fully threedimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation.

We show by extensive numerical simulations and analytical variational calculations that elongated binary non-miscible Bose-Einstein condensates subject to periodic modulations of the radial confinement exhibit a Faraday instability similar to that seen in one-component condensates. Considering the hyperfine states of 87 Rb condensates, we show that there are two experimentally relevant stationary state configurations: the one in which the components form a dark-bright symbiotic pair (the ground state of the system), and the one in which the components are segregated (first excited state). For each of these two configurations, we show numerically that far from resonances the Faraday waves excited in the two components are of similar periods, emerge simultaneously, and do not impact the dynamics of the bulk of the condensate. We derive analytically the period of the Faraday waves using a variational treatment of the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations combined with a Mathieu-type analysis for the selection mechanism of the excited waves. Finally, we show that for a modulation frequency close to twice that of the radial trapping, the emergent surface waves fade out in favor of a forceful collective mode that turns the two condensate components miscible.

We investigate analytically the dynamics of a trapped, quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate subject to resonant and nonresonant periodic modulation of the transverse confinement. The dynamics of the condensate is described variationally through a set of coupled ordinary differential equations, and the period of the excited waves is determined analytically using a Mathieu-type analysis. For a modulation frequency equal to that of the radial confinement we show that the predicted period of the resonant wave is in agreement with the existing experimental results. Finally, we present a detailed comparison between the resonant waves and the Faraday waves that emerge outside of resonance.

We study the emergence of Faraday waves in cigar-shaped collisionally inhomogeneous BoseEinstein condensates subject to periodic modulation of the radial confinement. Considering a Gaussian-shaped radially inhomogeneous scattering length, we show through extensive numerical simulations and detailed variational treatment that the spatial period of the emerging Faraday waves increases as the inhomogeneity of the scattering length gets weaker, and that it saturates once the width of the radial inhomogeneity reaches the radial width of the condensate. In the regime of strongly inhomogeneous scattering lengths, the radial profile of the condensate is akin to that of a hollow cylinder, while in the weakly inhomogeneous case the condensate is cigar-shaped and has a Thomas-Fermi radial density profile. Finally, we show that when the frequency of the modulation is close to the radial frequency of the trap, the condensate exhibits resonant waves which are accompanied by a clear excitation of collective modes, while for frequencies close to twice that of the radial frequency of the trap, the observed Faraday waves set in forcefully and quickly destabilize condensates with weakly inhomogeneous two-body interactions.