Abstract

Nonlinear Schrödinger equations are ubiquitous in physics, and appear in problems ranging from Bose liquids and light propagation in nonlinear media to quantum, chains, nonlinear atom optics, and atomic Bose condensation. A generic situation leading to a nonlinear Schrödinger equation description involves the effective single-particle dynamics of a many-particle system, coupled by a two- body interaction, and with the many- body wave function truncated via a Hartree-Fock Ansatz. However, if this system is in addition coupled to one, or possibly several reservoirs, such a description is no longer appropriate, and must be superceded by a master equation.

© 1996 Optical Society of America