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arXiv:1308.2110 · Physical Review A

Optical tweezers for vortex rings in Bose-Einstein condensates

A. I. Yakimenko, Y. M. Bidasyuk, O. O. Prikhodko, S. I. Vilchinskiĭ, Elena A. Ostrovskaya, Yuri S. Kivshar

Published Oct 28, 2013• 24 citations
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Abstract

We study generation and stabilization of vortex rings in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. We suggest an approach for generating vortex rings by optical tweezers---two blue-detuned optical beams forming a toroidal void in a magnetically or optically confined condensate cloud. We demonstrate that matter-wave vortex rings trapped within the void are energetically and dynamically stable. Our theoretical findings suggest a possibility for the generation, stabilization, and nondestructive manipulation of quantized vortex rings in experimentally feasible trapping configurations.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.88.043637

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We study generation and stabilization of vortex rings in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. We suggest an approach for generating vortex rings by optical tweezers---two blue-detuned optical beams forming a toroidal void in a magnetically or optically confined condensate cloud. We demonstrate that matter-wave vortex rings trapped within the void are energetically and dynamically stable. Our theoretical findings suggest a possibility for the generation, stabilization, and nondestructive manipulation of quantized vortex rings in experimentally feasible trapping configurations.
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We propose and numerically validate an experimentally feasible on-demand protocol for the nucleation and manipulation of stable quantum vortex rings in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates. The method relies on sweeping a laser-sheet barrier that locally constricts the superflow and triggers vortex-ring formation. By tuning the barrier height and width, and by scanning the barrier velocity, we identify the onset of periodic generation of vortex rings above the critical velocity and achieve direct, deterministic control over the ring nucleation position, radius, and hence propagation speed. After its formation, optical potentials are applied to reshape the vortex ring, creating clean Kelvin-wave excitations. Our results provide a foundation for systematic studies of three-dimensional vortices in atomic superfluids and open the door to tailored vortex dynamics and interactions, enabling controlled access to quantum turbulence.
We study vortex ring solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for Bose-Einstein condensates confined in toroidal traps. Analogously to the Feynman-Onsager ansatz for a single vortex line, we assume a condensate wavefunction that describes a quantized vortex ring. This leads to a modified Gross-Pitaevskii equation that incorporates vortex ring solutions. By numerically solving this equation, we have obtained the density profiles and the vortex core structure. We have also calculated the nucleation energy of a vortex ring, and have analyzed its dependence on the ring position. Finally, a qualitative description of the vortex ring dynamics is presented.
In this review, we give an overview of the experimental and theoretical advances in the physics of quantized vortices in dilute atomic-gas Bose--Einstein condensates in a trapping potential, especially focusing on experimental research activities and their theoretical interpretations. Making good use of the atom optical technique, the experiments have revealed many novel structural and dynamic properties of quantized vortices by directly visualizing vortex cores from an image of the density profiles. These results lead to a deep understanding of superfluid hydrodynamics of such systems. Typically, vortices are stabilized by a rotating potential created by a laser beam, magnetic field, and thermal gas. Finite size effects and inhomogeneity of the system, originating from the confinement by the trapping potential, yield unique vortex dynamics coupled with the collective excitations of the condensate. Measuring the frequencies of the collective modes is an accurate tool for clarifying the character of the vortex state. The topics included in this review are the mechanism of vortex formation, equilibrium properties, and dynamics of a single vortex and those of a vortex lattice in a rapidly rotating condensate.
We propose a method for the stabilization of a stack of parallel vortex rings in a Bose–Einstein condensate. The method makes use of a 'hollow' laser beam containing an optical vortex. Using realistic experimental parameters we demonstrate numerically that our method can stabilize up to nine vortex rings. Furthermore we point out that the condensate flow through the tunnel formed by the core of the optical vortex can be made supersonic by inserting a laser-generated hump potential. We show that long-living immobile condensate solitons generated in the tunnel exhibit sonic horizons. Finally, we discuss prospects of using these solitons for analogue gravity experiments.
We propose a method of generating a vortex ring in a Bose-Einstein condensate by means of electromagnetically induced atomic transitions. Some remnant population of atoms in a second internal state remains within the toroidal trap formed by the mean-field repulsion of the vortex ring. This population can be removed, or it can be made to flow around the torus (i.e., within the vortex ring). If this flow has a unit topological winding number, the entire structure formed by the two condensates is an example of a three-dimensional Skyrmion texture.