arXiv:1408.5218 · Physical Review A
Pinning of hidden vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates
Thudiyangal Mithun, Kuppuswamy Porsezian, Bishwajyoti Dey
Abstract
We study the vortex dynamics and vortex pinning effect in Bose-Einstein condensates in a rotating double-well trap potential and corotating optical lattice. We show that the vortex number does not diverge when the rotational frequency $\ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1$ if the trap potential is of anisotropic double-well type. The critical rotational frequency as obtained from numerical simulations agrees very well with the value $\sqrt{l}/l$ for $l=4$, which supports the conjecture that surface modes with angular momentum $l=4$ are excited when the rotating condensate is trapped in a double-well potential. The vortex lattice structure in a rotating triple-well trap potential and its pinning show very interesting features. We show the existence and pinning of hidden vortices whose phase profile is similar to that of the visible vortices.