Matter-wave localization in a weakly perturbed optical lattice

By numerical solution and variational approximation of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we studied the localization of a noninteracting and weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate in a weakly perturbed optical lattice in one and three dimensions. The perturbation achieved through a weak delocalizing expulsive or a linear potential as well as a weak localizing harmonic potential removes the periodicity of the optical lattice and leads to localization. We also studied some dynamics of the localized state confirming its stability. © 2011 American Physical Society.