Stability and dynamics of dark-bright solitons in spin-orbit- and Rabi-coupled binary Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We investigate the stability and nonlinear dynamics of dark--bright solitons in a one-dimensional binary Bose--Einstein condensate subjected to synthetic spin--orbit and Rabi couplings. In the absence of spin--orbit coupling, we map the coupled Gross--Pitaevskii equations onto the integrable Manakov model to obtain exact dark--bright soliton solutions, providing a rigorous theoretical benchmark. We demonstrate that finite spin--orbit coupling breaks integrability by inducing spin-dependent phase gradients that drive component-wise spatial separation and intrinsic density oscillations. By contrast, coherent Rabi driving enforces phase locking between spin components and supports robust breather-like excitations. Furthermore, we derive analytical continuity relations for mass and spin current densities, mapping the internal spin dynamics onto an internal Josephson-junction framework in which the gauge field acts as a continuous spatial momentum bias. Using imaginary-time propagation together with Bogoliubov--de Gennes analysis, we systematically characterise ground-state phases and excitation spectra for both symmetric and asymmetric interaction regimes in homogeneous and harmonically trapped systems. Real-time simulations further demonstrate that synthetic gauge fields and interaction quenches drive the system far from equilibrium, triggering modulational-instability-induced multi-soliton fragmentation, breathing stripe patterns, and non-equilibrium transport. Our results highlight the interplay of synthetic gauge fields, external confinement, and interaction engineering as powerful tools for controlling the stability and internal dynamics of multicomponent quantum fluids.