Numerical Solution of the Non-polynomial Schrödinger Equation

Abstract: Starting from the 3D Gross-Pitaevskii equation we revisit the dimensional reduction to an effective one-dimensional wave-equation that describes the longitudinal dynamics of a Bose condensate in an axially-symmetric external potential. Using a variational approach, Salasnich et al. introduced the non-polynomial Schr\"odinger equation (NPSE) which takes into account radial broadening of the wave function due to particle interactions. A closed form was derived by neglecting slow variation of the radial wave function along the longitudinal direction. We show that the full equation can efficiently be implemented using a time splitting spectral scheme coupled to a constraint equation. We confirm the validity of the approximation for experimentally relevant parameters. The corrections are found to be localized to regions of strong density gradients for which we highlight the differences through a number of numerical examples comparing the different 1D models.