Balanced gain and loss in Bose-Einstein condensates without PT symmetry

Abstract: Balanced gain and loss renders the mean-field description of Bose-Einstein condensates PT symmetric. However, any experimental realization has to deal with unbalancing in the gain and loss contributions breaking the PT symmetry. We will show that such an asymmetry does not necessarily lead to a system without a stable mean-field ground state. Indeed, by exploiting the nonlinear properties of the condensate, a small asymmetry can stabilize the system even further due to a self-regulation of the particle number.