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Families of localized modes of Bose-Einstein condensates enabled by incommensurate optical lattice and photon-atom interactions

Pedro S. Gil and Vladimir V. Konotop*

  • Departamento de Física and Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Edifício C8, Lisboa 1749-016, Portugal

  • *Contact author: vvkonotop@ciencias.ulisboa.pt
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013194 – Published 19 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5hcq-tfjz

Abstract

We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) loaded into a one-dimensional optical cavity under the combined action of an external potential and atom-cavity coupling with mutually incommensurate periods. Such configuration enables the localization of matter waves even in the absence of two-body interactions. We study families of localized modes within the mean-field approximation for red and blue detunings from atomic and cavity resonances in relatively shallow quasiperiodic lattices, beyond the validity of the tight-binding approximation. The parameter regimes supporting localization of atomic wave packets are identified. The system exhibits two types of bistability manifested as distinct photon numbers under otherwise identical conditions. One type arises from the coexistence of multiple families of localized modes, typical of conservative nonlinear systems, while the other stems from the multivalued dependence of the families on system parameters, characteristic of systems exhibiting hysteresis. BEC in a cavity may also display pseudodegeneracy, understood as the existence of two distinct atomic-density distributions corresponding to the same atomic and photon numbers (although different chemical potentials). The stability of the localized modes is analyzed. It is shown that, owing to the strong impact of long-range interactions on stability, a two-localized-mode configuration can operate as an xor logic gate.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013194– Published 19 February, 2026
  • Received 29 October 2025
  • Accepted 13 January 2026
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