Vortex formation in a spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates with static quadrupole magnetic field

Abstract

The ground-state phases of Rashba spin–orbit (SO)-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) in a quadrupole magnetic field are studied. The coupling of quadrupole magnetic field and spin induces local nonzero gauge particle current, accompanied by the generation of equal and opposite canonical particle current, and leads to the spontaneous nucleation of quantized vortices. The condensates exhibit a variety of rich density patterns and vortex arrangements resulting from the competition among quadrupole magnetic field, SO coupling, and interatomic interactions. Novel vortex structures, such as static vortex dipole, three-vortex molecule and the structure of a cross-arranged vortices and anti-vortices surrounded by a density annulus are found in the condensates. These structures greatly enrich the ground-state phases of SO-coupled BECs, and help to understand the superfluid behavior of a BEC and the nonlinear behavior of coherent matter waves.