  We study the stability of a Bose-Einstein condensate of harmonically trapped
atoms with negative scattering length, specifically lithium 7. Our method is to
solve the time-dependent nonlinear Schrodinger equation numerically. For an
isolated condensate, with no gain or loss, we find that the system is stable
(apart from quantum tunneling) if the particle number N is less than a critical
number N_c. For N > N_c, the system collapses to high-density clumps in a
region near the center of the trap. The time for the onset of collapse is on
the order of 1 trap period. Within numerical uncertainty, the results are
consistent with the formation of a "black hole" of infinite density
fluctuations, as predicted by Ueda and Huang. We obtain numerically N_c
approximately 1251. We then include gain-loss mechanisms, i.e., the gain of
atoms from a surrounding "thermal cloud", and the loss due to two- and
three-body collisions. The number N now oscillates in a steady state, with a
period of about 145 trap periods. We obtain N_c approximately 1260 as the
maximum value in the oscillations.
