Nonlinear Inverse Iterations for Spin-Orbit Coupled Quantum Gases

Abstract

This work concerns the computation of ground states of two-component spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates (SO-coupled BECs), modelled by a coupled nonlinear eigenvalue problem of Gross-Pitaevskii type. In regimes with strongly modulated densities, including supersolid-like phases, conventional numerical approaches such as generalized inverse iterations or gradient descent may converge slowly. To address this issue, we apply the J-method [E. Jarlebring, S. Kvaal, W. Michiels. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 36-4, 2014], which allows nonlinear inverse iterations to be accelerated through spectral shifting. A central analytical challenge arises from global phase invariance, which causes the target eigenvalue of the J-operator to be multiple and prevents the direct application of existing convergence results based on simple eigenvalues. Under a quasi-isolation assumption, we establish that this eigenvalue has algebraic and geometric multiplicity exactly two. By introducing an auxiliary phase-fixed iteration, we prove local linear convergence rates for the shifted J-method, determined by spectral gaps, in a quotient metric modulo global phase rotations. The particle densities converge at the same rate. Numerical experiments confirm the predicted linear convergence for fixed shifts and indicate superlinear convergence for adaptively chosen shifts.