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Scattering of two-dimensional solitons in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We analyze the scattering of bright solitons in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates placed in unconnected layers. Whereas for short-range interactions unconnected layers are independent, a remarkable consequence of the dipole interaction is the appearance of novel nonlocal interlayer effects. In particular, we show that the interlayer interaction leads to an effective molecular potential between disconnected solitons, inducing a complex scattering physics between them, which includes inelastic fusion into soliton-molecules, and strong symmetric and asymmetric inelastic resonances. In addition, a fundamentally new 2D scattering scenario in matter-wave solitons is possible, in which inelastic spiraling occurs, resembling phenomena in photorrefractive materials. Finally, we consider the scattering of unconnected 1D solitons and discuss the feasibility in current on going experiments.