Vortex patterns of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in a density-dependent gauge potential

Matthew Edmonds,Muneto Nitta

doi:10.1103/physreva.102.011303

Abstract

We theoretically examine the vortex states of a gas of trapped quasi-two-dimensional ultracold bosons subject to a density-dependent gauge potential, realizing an effective nonlinear rotation of the atomic condensate, which we also show is within the reach of current experimental techniques with ultracold atom experiments. The nonlinear rotation has a two-fold effect; as well as distorting the shape of the condensate it also leads to an inhomogeneous vorticity resulting in novel morphological and topological states, including ring vortex arrangements that do not follow the standard Abrikosov result. The dynamics of trapped vortices are also explored, which differs from the case of rigid-body rotation due to the absence of a global laboratory reference frame.

Highlights

Rapid CommunicationsVortex patterns of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in a density-dependent gauge potential
Quantum vortices represent the fundamental excitations of superfluid systems, appearing in response to the rotation of atomic condensates
We reveal the unusual phenomenology of this system, including vortex ring arrangements that violate the famous Abrikosov result and unusual dynamics associated with the time-dependent nature of the underlying synthetic gauge potential

Summary

Rapid Communications

Vortex patterns of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in a density-dependent gauge potential. We theoretically examine the vortex states of a gas of trapped quasi-two-dimensional ultracold bosons subject to a density-dependent gauge potential, realizing an effective nonlinear rotation of the atomic condensate, which we show is within the reach of current experimental techniques with ultracold atom experiments. The nonlinear rotation has a twofold effect; as well as distorting the shape of the condensate it leads to an inhomogeneous vorticity resulting in unique morphological and topological states, including ring vortex arrangements that do not follow the standard Abrikosov result. The dynamics of trapped vortices are explored, which differ from the case of rigid-body rotation due to the absence of a global laboratory reference frame

Introduction

MATTHEW EDMONDS AND MUNETO NITTA

These individual terms can be shown to be defined as

Fermi distribution in the rotating frame as

Conclusions