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arXiv:2109.07144 · Physical Review A

Spin-current instability at a magnetic domain wall in a ferromagnetic superfluid: A generation mechanism of eccentric fractional skyrmions

Hiromitsu Takeuchi

Published Jan 31, 2022• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Spinful superfluids of ultracold atoms are ideal for investigating the intrinsic properties of spin current and texture because they are realized in an isolated, nondissipative system free from impurities, dislocations, and thermal fluctuations. This study theoretically reveals the impact of spin current on a magnetic domain wall in spinful superfluids. An exact wall solution is obtained in the ferromagnetic phase of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with easy-axis anisotropy at zero temperature. The bosonic-quasiparticle mechanics analytically show that the spin current along the wall becomes unstable if the velocity exceeds the critical spin-current velocities, leading to complicated situations because of the competition between transverse magnons and ripplons. Our direct numerical simulation reveals that this system has a mechanism to generate an eccentric fractional skyrmion, which has a fractional topological charge, but its texture is not similar to that of a meron. This mechanism is in contrast to the generation of conventional skyrmions in easy-axis magnets. The theoretical findings can be examined in the same situation as in a recent experiment on ultracold atoms. In terms of the universality of spontaneous symmetry breaking, unexplored similar phenomena are expected in different physical systems with the same broken symmetry.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.105.013328

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Spinful superfluids of ultracold atoms are ideal for investigating the intrinsic properties of spin current and texture because they are realized in an isolated, nondissipative system free from impurities, dislocations, and thermal fluctuations. This study theoretically reveals the impact of spin current on a magnetic domain wall in spinful superfluids. An exact wall solution is obtained in the ferromagnetic phase of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with easy-axis anisotropy at zero temperature. The bosonic-quasiparticle mechanics analytically show that the spin current along the wall becomes unstable if the velocity exceeds the critical spin-current velocities, leading to complicated situations because of the competition between transverse magnons and ripplons. Our direct numerical simulation reveals that this system has a mechanism to generate an eccentric fractional skyrmion, which has a fractional topological charge, but its texture is not similar to that of a meron. This mechanism is in contrast to the generation of conventional skyrmions in easy-axis magnets. The theoretical findings can be examined in the same situation as in a recent experiment on ultracold atoms. In terms of the universality of spontaneous symmetry breaking, unexplored similar phenomena are expected in different physical systems with the same broken symmetry.
The spin degrees of freedom in multicomponent Bose–Einstein condensates allow for various types of topological excitations, such as skyrmions and knots. Systems with high spins offer a broader range of internal symmetries. For instance, in spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensates, one can observe not only the two-dimensional (2D) skyrmion spin texture but also the bimeron spin texture. However, it remains challenging to experimentally create or stabilize a bimeron and identify the conditions that facilitate its formation. In this context, our research predicts a novel form of topological structure known as the domain wall bimeron in ferromagnetic spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensates by manipulating the magnetic field. Unlike conventional 2D skyrmions, this unique bimeron exhibits a non-axisymmetric spin texture and features complex off-axis vortices whose cores are connected by domain walls. This work significantly contributes to the study of 2D topological excitations in quantum matter with high spins.
Compared with a scalar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a spinor BEC supports richer phenomena because of its internal spin degrees of freedom, including topological solitons such as domain walls or skyrmions. Here, we theoretically reveal three distinct axisymmetric soliton structures formed as a circular domain wall in a spin-1 BEC, connected within fixed winding numbers. We refer to these structures as the broken-axisymmetry (BA)-skin, antiferromagnetic (AF)-skin and normal-core phases. Their occurrence is controlled by the two dimensionless parameters in the absence of linear Zeeman coefficient p=0p=0p=0: q/μq/μq/μ, the ratio of the quadratic Zeeman coefficient to the chemical potential, and cs/cnc_s/c_ncs​/cn​, the ratio of spin interaction to the density interaction. The BA-skin and AF-skin phases exhibit local easy-plane magnetic order and local easy-plane spin-nematic order, respectively, while the normal-core phase is similar to a doubly quantized vortex analogous to that of a scalar BEC with a density depletion at the center. We obtain semi-analytical estimates of selected transition boundaries separating these phases by analyzing the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation and also numerically confirm them by solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We estimate the skyrmion radius using a hydrostatic approximation and compare the result with numerical solutions. We envision our results on skyrmions in a spin-1 BEC can trigger further investigation on novel soliton structures in a magnetic superfluid.
A central goal in condensed matter and modern atomic physics is the exploration of manybody quantum phases and the universal characteristics of quantum phase transitions in so far as they differ from those established for thermal phase transitions. Compared with condensedmatter systems, atomic gases are more precisely constructed and also provide the unique opportunity to explore quantum dynamics far from equilibrium. Here we identify a second-order quantum phase transition in a gaseous spinor BoseEinstein condensate, a quantum fluid in which superfluidity and magnetism, both associated with symmetry breaking, are simultaneously realized. Rb spinor condensates were rapidly quenched across this transition to a ferromagnetic state and probed using in-situ magnetization imaging to observe spontaneous symmetry breaking through the formation of spin textures, ferromagnetic domains and domain walls. The observation of topological defects produced by this symmetry breaking, identified as polar-core spin-vortices containing non-zero spin current but no net mass current, represents the first phase-sensitive in-situ detection of vortices in a gaseous superfluid.
The paper investigates the coexistence and interplay of spin and mass superfluidity in a ferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate. Superfluidity is possible only in the presence of uniaxial anisotropy (linear and quadratic Zeeman effect). This follows from the topology of the order-parameter space (vacuum manifold). According to the Landau criterion, the critical phase gradients, both for mass and spin supercurrents, vanish at the phase transition from the easy-plane to the easy-axis anisotropy. However, mass superfluidity is still possible at the phase transition. This is because the Landau criterion signals instability only with respect to nonsingular vortices with special ratio between circulations of mass and spin currents. Phase slips produced by these vortices are not sufficient for complete decay of supercurrents. Full decay of supercurrents requires phase slips with vortices of another topological class and larger energy. These phase slips are suppressed by energetic barriers up to the upper critical velocity (gradient) exceeding the Landau critical velocity. The upper critical velocity does not vanish nor has any anomaly in the critical point at the phase transition from the easy-plane to the easy-axis anisotropy.
The recently realized multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates provide opportunities to explore the rich physics brought about by the spin degrees of freedom. For instance, we can study spin waves and phase separation, macroscopic quantum tunneling, Rabi oscillations, the coupling between spin gradients and superfluid flow, squeezed spin states, vortices and other topological excitations. Theoretically, there have been already some studies of the ground-state properties of these systems and their line-like vortex excitations. In analogy with nuclear physics or the quantum Hall effect, we explore here the possibility of observing point-like topological excitations or skyrmions. These are nontrivial spin textures that in principle can exist in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. In particular, we investigate the stability of skyrmions in a fictitious spin-1/2 condensate of Rb87 atoms. We find that skyrmions can exist in this case only as a metastable state, but with a lifetime of the order of, or even longer than, the typical lifetime of the condensate itself. In addition to determining the size and the lifetime of the skyrmion, we also present its spin texture and finally briefly consider its dynamical properties.
The paper investigates coexistence and interplay of spin and mass superfluidity in a ferromagnetic spin-1 BEC. Superfluidity is possible only in the presence of uniaxial anisotropy (linear and quadratic Zeeman effect). This follows from the topology of the order parameter space (vacuum manifold). According to the Landau criterion the critical phase gradients, both for mass and spin supercurrents, vanish at the phase transition from the easy-plane to the easy-axis anisotropy. However, it is argued that mass superfluidity is still possible at the phase transition. This is because the Landau criterion signals instability only with respect to nonsingular vortices with special ratio between circulations of mass and spin currents. Phase slips produced by these vortices are not sufficient for complete decay of supercurrents. Full decay of supercurrents requires phase slips with vortices of another topological class and another (larger) energy. The analysis of skyrmions forming cores of non-singular vortices shows that the critical gradients (velocities) for mass superfluidity smoothly vary across the phase transition and do not vanish or have any anomaly in the critical point.