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arXiv:1401.4041 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Quantum analogues of classical wakes in Bose–Einstein condensates

G. W. Stagg, Nicholas G. Parker, Carlo F. Barenghi

Published Apr 16, 2014• 52 citations
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Abstract

We show that an elliptical obstacle moving through a Bose–Einstein condensate generates wakes of quantum vortices which resemble those of classical viscous flow past a cylinder or sphere. The role of ellipticity is to facilitate the interaction of the vortices nucleated by the obstacle. Initial steady symmetric wakes lose their symmetry and form clusters of like-signed vortices, in analogy to the classical Bénard–von Kármán vortex street. Our findings, demonstrated numerically in both two and three dimensions, confirm the intuition that a sufficiently large number of quanta of circulation reproduce classical physics.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/47/9/095304

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We show that an elliptical obstacle moving through a Bose–Einstein condensate generates wakes of quantum vortices which resemble those of classical viscous flow past a cylinder or sphere. The role of ellipticity is to facilitate the interaction of the vortices nucleated by the obstacle. Initial steady symmetric wakes lose their symmetry and form clusters of like-signed vortices, in analogy to the classical Bénard–von Kármán vortex street. Our findings, demonstrated numerically in both two and three dimensions, confirm the intuition that a sufficiently large number of quanta of circulation reproduce classical physics.
We show that an elliptical obstacle moving through a Bose–Einstein condensate generates wakes of quantum vortices which resemble those of classical viscous flow past a cylinder or sphere. The role of ellipticity is to facilitate the interaction of the vortices nucleated by the obstacle. Initial steady symmetric wakes lose their symmetry and form clusters of like-signed vortices, in analogy to the classical Bénard–von Kármán vortex street. Our findings, demonstrated numerically in both two and three dimensions, confirm the intuition that a sufficiently large number of quanta of circulation reproduce classical physics.
We reinvestigate numerically the classic problem of two-dimensional superfluid flow past an obstacle. Taking the obstacle to be elongated (perpendicular to the flow), rather than the usual circular form, is shown to promote the nucleation of quantized vortices, enhance their subsequent interactions, and lead to wakes which bear striking similarity to their classical (viscous) counterparts. Then, focussing on the recent experiment of Kwon et al. (arXiv:1403.4658) in a trapped condensate, we show that an elliptical obstacle leads to a cleaner and more efficient means to generate two-dimensional quantum turbulence.
We reinvestigate numerically the classic problem of two-dimensional superfluid flow past an obstacle. Taking the obstacle to be elongated (perpendicular to the flow), rather than the usual circular form, is shown to promote the nucleation of quantized vortices, enhance their subsequent interactions, and lead to wakes which bear striking similarity to their classical (viscous) counterparts. Then, focussing on the recent experiment of Kwon et al. (arXiv:1403.4658) in a trapped condensate, we show that an elliptical obstacle leads to a cleaner and more efficient means to generate two-dimensional quantum turbulence.
We report on the experimental observation of vortex cluster shedding from a moving obstacle in an oblate atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. At low obstacle velocities v above a critical value, vortex clusters consisting of two like-sign vortices are generated to form a regular configuration like a von Kármán street, and as v is increased, the shedding pattern becomes irregular with many different kinds of vortex clusters. In particular, we observe that the Stouhal number associated with the shedding frequency exhibits saturation behavior with increasing v. The regular-to-turbulent transition of the vortex cluster shedding reveals remarkable similarities between a superfluid and a classical viscous fluid. Our work opens a new direction for experimental investigations of the superfluid Reynolds number characterizing universal superfluid hydrodynamics.
We report on the experimental observation of vortex cluster shedding from a moving obstacle in an oblate atomic Bose-Einstein condensate.At low obstacle velocities v above a critical value, vortex clusters consisting of two like-sign vortices are generated to form a regular configuration like a von Kármán street, and as v is increased, the shedding pattern becomes irregular with many different kinds of vortex clusters.In particular, we observe that the Stouhal number associated with the shedding frequency exhibits saturation behavior with increasing v.The regular-to-turbulent transition of the vortex cluster shedding reveals remarkable similarities between a superfluid and a classical viscous fluid.Our work opens a new direction for experimental investigations of the superfluid Reynolds number characterizing universal superfluid hydrodynamics.