Vortex Reconnections in Anisotropic Trapped Three-Dimensional Bose–Einstein Condensates

Abstract

Quantum vortex reconnections can be considered as a fundamental unit of interaction in complex turbulent quantum gases. Understanding the dynamics of single vortex reconnections as elementary events is an essential precursor to the explanation of the emergent properties of turbulent quantum gases. It is thought that a lone pair of quantum vortex lines will inevitably interact given a sufficiently long time. This paper investigates aspects of reconnections of quantum vortex pairs imprinted in a Bose–Einstein condensate with 101 bosons held in an anisotropic three-dimensional trap using an exact many-body treatment. In particular, the impact of the interaction strength and the trap anisotropy in the reconnection time is studied. It is found that interaction strength has no effect on reconnection time over short time scales and that the trap anisotropy can cause the edge of the condensate to interfere with the reconnection process. It is also found that the initially coherent system fragments very slowly, even for a relatively large interaction strength, and therefore the system tends to stay condensed during the reconnections.