Manipulation of Bose-Einstein condensates by dipole potentials

The coherent manipulation of Bose-Einstein condensates by far blue detuned dipole potentials is discussed. 'Classical' atom optical elements, such as mirrors and waveguides, are realized and the dynamics of coherent matter wa ves interacting with these elements is investigated. The local manipulation of the phase of the condensate wavefunction by temporally applied dipole p otentials represents a powerful tool for the design of matter waves. We use this method in particular for the creation of dark solitons in Bose-Einste in condensates and study their dynamics.