Modulational Instability of Trapped Two-Component Bose-Einstein Condensates

The modulational instability of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates(BECs)under an external parabolic potential is discussed.Based on the trapped two-component Gross-Pitaevskill equations,a time-dependent dispersion relation is obtained analytically by means of the modified lens-type transformation and linear stability analysis.It is shown that a modulational unstable time scale exists for trapped two-component BECs.The modulational properties-which are determined by the wave number,external trapping parameter,intraand inter-species atomic interactions-are modified significantly.The analytical results are confirmed by direct numerical simulation.Our results provide a criterion for judging the occurrence of instability of the trapped two-component BECs in experiment.