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arXiv:2010.04549 · Journal of High Energy Physics

Vortex precession and exchange in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Julien Garaud, Jin Dai, Antti J. Niemi

Published Jul 1, 2021• 5 citations
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Abstract

Abstract Vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate are modelled as spontaneously symmetry breaking minimum energy solutions of the time dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, using the method of constrained optimization. In a non-rotating axially symmetric trap, the core of a single vortex precesses around the trap center and, at the same time, the phase of its wave function shifts at a constant rate. The precession velocity, the speed of phase shift, and the distance between the vortex core and the trap center, depend continuously on the value of the conserved angular momentum that is carried by the entire condensate. In the case of a symmetric pair of identical vortices, the precession engages an emergent gauge field in their relative coordinate, with a flux that is equal to the ratio between the precession and shift velocities.

DOI
10.1007/jhep07(2021)157

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Abstract Vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate are modelled as spontaneously symmetry breaking minimum energy solutions of the time dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, using the method of constrained optimization. In a non-rotating axially symmetric trap, the core of a single vortex precesses around the trap center and, at the same time, the phase of its wave function shifts at a constant rate. The precession velocity, the speed of phase shift, and the distance between the vortex core and the trap center, depend continuously on the value of the conserved angular momentum that is carried by the entire condensate. In the case of a symmetric pair of identical vortices, the precession engages an emergent gauge field in their relative coordinate, with a flux that is equal to the ratio between the precession and shift velocities.
Vortices in a cold alkali atom Bose-Einstein condensate can be modelled as minimum energy solutions of the time dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In a non-rotating axially symmetric trap, the core of a single vortex precesses around the trap center and, at the same time, the phase of its wave function shifts at a constant rate. The precession velocity, the speed of phase shift, and the distance between the vortex core and the trap center, depend continuously on the value of the conserved angular momentum that is carried by the entire condensate. The precessing vortex is an example of an autonomous Hamiltonian time crystal. In the case of a symmetric pair of identical vortices, the precession engages an emergent gauge field akin to the anyon gauge field, with a statistical parameter equal to the ratio between the precession and shift velocities.
We consider a finite-temperature Bose-Einstein condensate in a quasi-two-dimensional trap containing a single precessing vortex. We find that such a configuration arises naturally as an ergodic equilibrium of the projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation, when constrained to a finite conserved angular momentum. In an isotropic trapping potential, the condensation of the classical field into an off-axis vortex state breaks the rotational symmetry of the system. We present a methodology to identify the condensate and the Goldstone mode associated with the broken rotational symmetry in the classical-field model. We also examine the variation in vortex trajectories and thermodynamic parameters of the field as the energy of the microcanonical field simulation is varied.
We derive, from the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, an exact expression for the velocity of any vortex in a Bose-Einstein condensate, in equilibrium or not, in terms of the condensate wave function at the center of the vortex. In general, the vortex velocity is a sum of the local superfluid velocity, plus a correction related to the density gradient near the vortex. A consequence is that in rapidly rotating, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates, unlike in the usual situation in slowly rotating condensates and in hydrodynamics, vortices do not move with the local fluid velocity. We indicate how Kelvin's conservation of circulation theorem is compatible with the velocity of the vortex center being different from the local fluid velocity. Finally, we derive an exact wave function for a single vortex near the rotation axis in a weakly interacting system, from which we derive the vortex precession rate.
It has been demonstrated experimentally that non-axisymmetric vortices precess around the center of a Bose-Einstein condensate. Two types of single vortex states have been observed, usually referred to as the S vortex and the U vortex. We study theoretically the single vortex excitations in spherical and elongated condensates as a function of the interaction strength. We solve numerically the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and calculate the angular momentum as a function of precession frequency. The existence of two types of vortices means that we have two different precession frequencies for each angular momentum value. As the interaction strength increases the vortex lines bend and the precession frequencies shift to lower values. We establish that for given angular momentum the S vortex has higher energy than the U vortex in a rotating elongated condensate. We show that the S vortex is related to the solitonic vortex, which is a nonlinear excitation in the nonrotating system. For small interaction strengths the S vortex is related to the dark soliton. In the dilute limit a lowest Landau level calculation provides an analytic description of these vortex modes in terms of the harmonic oscillator states.
We use a variational method to investigate the ground-state phase diagram of a small, asymmetric Bose-Einstein condensate with respect to the dimensionless interparticle interaction strength $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and the applied external rotation speed $\ensuremath{\Omega}.$ For a given $\ensuremath{\gamma},$ the transition lines between no-vortex and vortex states are shifted toward higher $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ relative to those for the symmetric case. We also find a re-entrant behavior, where the number of vortex cores can decrease for large $\ensuremath{\Omega}.$ In addition, stabilizing a vortex in a rotating asymmetric trap requires a minimum interaction strength. For a given asymmetry, the evolution of the variational parameters with increasing $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ shows two different types of transitions (sharp or continuous), depending on the strength of the interaction. We also investigate transitions to states with higher vorticity; the corresponding angular momentum increases continuously as a function of $\ensuremath{\Omega}.$
One of the key issues related to superfluidity is the existence of quantized vortices. Following recent experiments on Bose–Einstein condensates exhibiting vortices, we investigate the behavior of the wave function which solves the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. For a rotating Bose–Einstein condensate in a harmonic trap, we give a simplified expression of the Gross–Pitaevskii energy in the Thomas–Fermi regime, which only depends on the number and shape of the vortex lines. This allows us to study in detail the structure of the line of a single quantized vortex, which has a U or S shape. S type vortices exist for all values of the angular velocity Ω but are not minimizers of the energy while U vortices are minimizers and exist only for Ω sufficiently large. Finally, we study the drag created by the movement of a detuned laser beam in a condensate and the nucleation of vortices in the low density region close to the boundary layer of the cloud.