Collisional-inhomogeneity-induced generation of matter-wave dark solitons

We propose an experimentally relevant protocol for the controlled generation of matter-wave dark solitons in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). In particular, using direct numerical simulations, we show that by switching-on a spatially inhomogeneous (step-like) change of the s-wave scattering length, it is possible to generate a controllable number of dark solitons in a quasi-one-dimensional BEC. A similar phenomenology is also found in the two-dimensional setting of “disk-shaped” BECs but, as the solitons are subject to the snaking instability, they decay into vortex structures. A detailed investigation of how the parameters involved affect the emergence and evolution of solitons and vortices is provided.