Stationary states of a PT symmetric two-mode Bose–Einstein condensate

The understanding of nonlinear PT symmetric quantum systems, arising for example in the theory of Bose–Einstein condensates in PT symmetric potentials, is widely based on numerical investigations, and little is known about generic features induced by the interplay of PT symmetry and nonlinearity. To gain deeper insights it is important to have analytically solvable toy models at hand. In the present paper the stationary states of a simple toy model of a PT symmetric system previously introduced in [1, 2] are investigated. The model can be interpreted as a simple description of a Bose–Einstein condensate in a PT symmetric double well trap in a two-mode approximation. The eigenvalues and eigenstates of the system can be explicitly calculated in a straightforward manner; the resulting structures resemble those that have recently been found numerically for a more realistic PT symmetric double delta potential. In addition, a continuation of the system is introduced that allows an interpretation in terms of a simple linear matrix model. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to 'Quantum physics with non-Hermitian operators'. (paper)