  We consider the statics and dynamics of F = 1 spinor Bose-Einstein
condensates (BECs) confined in double well potentials. We use a two-mode
Galerkin-type quasi-analytical approximation to describe the stationary states
of the system. This way, we are able to obtain not only earlier results based
on the single mode approximation (SMA) frequently used in studies of spinor
BECs, but also additional modes that involve either two or all three spinor
components of the F = 1 spinor BEC. The results based on this Galerkin-type
decomposition are in good agreement with the analysis of the full system. We
subsequently analyze the stability of these multi-component states, as well as
their dynamics when we find them to be unstable. The instabilities of the
symmetric or anti-symmetric states exhibit symmetry-breaking and recurrent
asymmetric patterns. Our results yield qualitatively similar bifurcation
diagrams both for polar (such as Na23) and ferromagnetic (such as Rb87) spinor
BECs.
