title: Modeling the transport of interacting matter waves in a disordered system by a nonlinear diffusion equation.
abstract: We model the expansion of an interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a disordered lattice with a nonlinear diffusion equation normally used for a variety of classical systems. We find approximate solutions of the diffusion equation that well reproduce the experimental observations for both short and asymptotic expansion times. Our study establishes a connection between the peculiar shape of the expanding density profiles and the microscopic nonlinear diffusion coefficients.
authors.affiliation: LENS and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universitá di Firenze, and INO-CNR, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lucioni
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tanzi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: D'Errico
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moratti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inguscio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Modugno