A dielectric superfluid of polar molecules

We show that, under achievable experimental conditions, a Bose-Einstein condensate of polar molecules can exhibit dielectric character. In particular, we derive a set of self-consistent mean-field equations that couple the condensate density to its electric dipole field, leading to the emergence of polarization modes that are coupled to the rich quasi-particle spectrum of the condensate. While the usual roton instability is suppressed in this system, the coupling can give rise to a phonon-like instability that is characteristic of a dielectric material with a negative static dielectric function. (paper)