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arXiv:1603.05747 · Physical Review A

Transition from vortices to solitonic vortices in trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

Marios C. Tsatsos, Matthew Edmonds, Nicholas G. Parker

Published Aug 24, 2016• 8 citations
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Abstract

Motivated by recent experiments, we study theoretically the dynamics of vortices in the crossover from two dimensions to one in atomic condensates in elongated traps. We explore the transition from the dynamics of a vortex to that of a dark soliton as the one-dimensional limit is approached, mapping this transition out as a function of the key system parameters. Moreover, we probe this transition dynamically through the hysteresis under time-dependent deformation of the trap at the dimensionality crossover. When the solitonic regime is probed during the hysteresis, significant angular momentum is lost from the system, but remarkably, the vortex can reemerge.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.94.023627

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Motivated by recent experiments, we study theoretically the dynamics of vortices in the crossover from two dimensions to one in atomic condensates in elongated traps. We explore the transition from the dynamics of a vortex to that of a dark soliton as the one-dimensional limit is approached, mapping this transition out as a function of the key system parameters. Moreover, we probe this transition dynamically through the hysteresis under time-dependent deformation of the trap at the dimensionality crossover. When the solitonic regime is probed during the hysteresis, significant angular momentum is lost from the system, but remarkably, the vortex can reemerge.
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Dilute atomic Bose-Einstein condensates support intriguing macroscopic excitations in the form of quantized vortices and dark solitons. In this thesis we present extensive quantitative studies of the dynamics of these phenomena in the limit of zero temperature, performed by numerical simulation of the Gross- Pitaevskii equation. We show that vortices and dark solitons are inherently unstable to acceleration through the condensate, leading to the emission of sound waves. Indeed, for a single vortex/soliton, the power emitted is proportional to the square of the local acceleration. However, due to the finite size of the condensate, the vortex/soliton reinteracts with the emitted sound. This coupling has an important effect on the ensuing dynamics, and we illustrate how it can be engineered to induce net decay, stabilise, or even drive energy into the vortex/soliton. Under the harmonic confinement typically employed to trap the condensates, the acceleration-induced decay is stabilised by reabsorption of the emitted sound. However, by modifying the trap geometry, e.g. by adding an inner dimple in which the soliton resides or an optical lattice potential, it is possible to break this equilibrium and so induce a net decay of the vortex/soliton in a controllable manner. The decay rate can be considerable and should be observable under current experimental conditions. The dynamical stability of quantized vortices is also relevant to the field of turbulence in superfluid Helium, where the motion of the vortices is induced by the surrounding distribution of vortices rather than density. We extend these results to this field, and additionally consider the interactions between two and three vortices, which are also found to involve sound emission. By exciting the sound field of the condensate it is possible to drive parametrically energy into a dark soliton. In a real dissipative environment, this can be used to stabilise the soliton decay. Finally, we illustrate the links between dark solitons and vortices: a dark soliton embedded in a three-dimensional system is prone to decay into vortex rings, while a vortex in a quasi-one-dimensional geometry cannot be supported and exists as a hybrid between a vortex and dark soliton, known as a solitonic vortex.
We study the formation of vortices in a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a rotating anisotropic trap. We find that the number of vortices and angular momentum attained by the condensate depend upon the rotation history of the trap and on the number of vortices present in the condensate initially. A simplified model based on hydrodynamic equations is developed, and used to explain this effect in terms of a shift in the resonance frequency of the quadrupole mode of the condensate in the presence of a vortex lattice. Differences between the spin-up and spin-down response of the condensate are found, demonstrating hysteresis phenomena in this system.
We report on the existence and stability of multidimensional bound solitonic states in harmonically trapped scalar Bose-Einstein condensates. Their equilibrium separation, as a measure of the strength of the soliton-soliton or the solitonic vortex-vortex interaction, is provided for varying chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$. Static bound dark solitons are shown to be dynamically stable in elongated condensates within a range of intermediate (repulsive) interparticle-interaction strength. Beyond this range the snaking instability manifests during the time evolution of the planar solitons and produces the decay into nonstationary vortex states. A subsequent dynamical recurrence of solitons and vortices can be observed at low $\ensuremath{\mu}$. At equilibrium, the bifurcations of bound dark solitons are bound solitonic vortices. Among them, both two-open and two-ring vortex lines are demonstrated to exist with both counter- and co-rotating steady velocity fields. The latter flow configurations evolve, for high chemical potential, into a stationary three-dimensional (3D)-chain-shaped vortex and a three vortex-antivortex-vortex ring sequence that arrest the otherwise increasing angular or linear momentum respectively. As a feature common to the bifurcated families of vortex states, their excitation spectra present unstable modes with associated oscillatory dynamics. In spite of this, the family of two-open counter-rotating vortices support dynamically stable 3D states.