The one-dimensional Bose gas with strong two-body losses: the effect of the harmonic confinement

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a one-dimensional Bose gas in presence of strong two-body losses. In this dissipative quantum Zeno regime, the gas fermionises and its dynamics can be described with a simple set of rate equations. Employing the local density approximation and a Boltzmann-like dynamical equation, the description is extended to take into account an external potential. We show that in the absence of confinement the population is depleted in an anomalous way and that the gas behaves as a low-temperature classical gas. The harmonic confinement accelerates the depopulation of the gas and introduces a novel decay regime, which we thoroughly characterise.