Formation of Solitons During the BEC Phase Transition

During the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, local differences in the emerging phase and interferences can lead to topological defects. In our experiment we analyze these dynamics in an elongated geometry and observe a pronounced appearance of solitons when the phase transition from a cloud of classical $^{87}$Rb atoms to a BEC in a cigar-shaped trap is crossed sufficiently rapidly. The spontaneous formation of such topological defects is a general feature of continuous phase transitions. Recent and ongoing results will be discussed.