Stable double-pair skyrmion in an antiferromagnetic F = 1 Bose–Einstein condensate

Abstract

The recent experimental realization of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in spin-1 ultracold atoms opens up an interesting avenue for exploring new quantum states and novel quantum phenomena in large-spin systems. Two types of two-dimensional double-pair vortices that are connected by a domain-wall can be accommodated in the antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). One type, named a 2D double-pair skyrmion, which differs from the conventional 2D skyrmion in the F = 1 polar BEC, hosts a pair of vortices and displays a meron-pair texture with a unit topological charge. The other type has a meron-pair texture but with null topological charge. These two types of double-pair vortices can be naturally generated from a vortex-free Gaussian wave packet by incorporating a non-Abelian gauge field into the spinor condensate.