Controlled expansion of shell-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates

Motivated by the recent experimental realization of ultracold quantum gases in shell topology, we propose a straightforward implementation of matter-wave lensing techniques for shell-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates. This approach allows to significantly extend the free evolution time of the condensate shell after release from the trap and enables the study of novel quantum many-body effects on curved geometries. With both analytical and numerical methods we derive optimal parameters for realistic schemes to conserve the shell shape of the condensate for times up to hundreds of milliseconds.