Collective excitations of a one-dimensional quantum droplet

Abstract

We calculate the excitation spectrum of a one-dimensional self-bound quantum droplet in a two-component bosonic mixture described by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with cubic and quadratic nonlinearities. The cubic term originates from the mean-field energy of the mixture proportional to the effective coupling constant δg, whereas the quadratic nonlinearity corresponds to the attractive beyond-mean-field contribution. The droplet properties are governed by a control parameter γ∞δgN2/3, where N is the particle number. For large γ>0, the droplet features the flat-top shape with the discrete part of its spectrum consisting of plane-wave Bogoliubov phonons propagating through the flat-density bulk and reflected by edges of the droplet. With decreasing γ, these modes cross into the continuum, sequentially crossing the particle-emission threshold at specific critical values. A notable exception is the breathing mode, which we find to be always bound. The balance point γ=0 provides implementation of a system governed by the GPE with an unusual quadratic nonlinearity. This case is characterized by the ratio of the breathing-mode frequency to the particle-emission threshold equal to 0.8904. As γ tends to -∞, this ratio tends to 1 and the droplet transforms into the soliton solution of the integrable cubic GPE.