We theoretically study the stationary-state vortex lattice configurations of rotating spin-orbit (SO)- and coherently-coupled spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) trapped in quasi-two-dimensional harmonic potentials. The combined effects of rotation, SO and coherent couplings are analyzed systematically from the single-particle perspective. Through the single-particle Hamiltonian, which is exactly solvable for one-dimensional coupling, we illustrate that a boson in these rotating SO- and coherently-coupled condensates are subjected to effective toroidal, symmetric double-well, or asymmetric double-well potentials under specific coupling and rotation strengths. In the presence of mean-field interactions, using the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii formalism at moderate to high rotation frequencies, the analytically obtained effective potential minima and the numerically obtained coarse-grained density maxima position are in excellent agreement. On rapid rotation, we further find that the spin-expectation per particle of an antiferromagnetic spin-1 BEC approaches unity indicating a similarity in the response with ferromagnetic SO-coupled condensates.
We theoretically study the stationary-state vortex lattice configurations of rotating spin-orbit (SO)- and coherently-coupled spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) trapped in quasi-two-dimensional harmonic potentials. The combined effects of rotation, SO and coherent couplings are analyzed systematically from the single-particle perspective. Through the single-particle Hamiltonian, which is exactly solvable for one-dimensional coupling, we illustrate that a boson in these rotating SO- and coherently-coupled condensates are subjected to effective toroidal, symmetric double-well, or asymmetric double-well potentials under specific coupling and rotation strengths. In the presence of mean-field interactions, using the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii formalism at moderate to high rotation frequencies, the analytically obtained effective potential minima and the numerically obtained coarse-grained density maxima position are in excellent agreement. On rapid rotation, we further find that the spin-expectation per particle of an antiferromagnetic spin-1 BEC approaches unity indicating a similarity in the response with ferromagnetic SO-coupled condensates.
The spin-orbit and coherent couplings along with rotation can combine together to result in scalar potentials which can modify the trapping potential to yield a variety of effective potentials experienced by a particle. The bosons in these rotating SO- and coherently-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can thus be subjected to rotating effective potentials equivalent to a toroidal, a symmetric double-well, an asymmetric double-well potentials, etc. With the increase in rotation frequency, the magnitude of spin-expectation per particle for even an antiferromagnetic SO-coupled BEC tends to unity, which is consistent with our analysis of the eigenfunctions and eigenenergies of the non-interacting Hamiltonian. The breakdown in the degeneracy of the minimum energy eigenfunctions of the non-interacting Hamiltonian results in the similar behavior of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic SO-coupled BECs. This is illustrated by the similar static vortex-lattice patterns, associated spin-textures, and mass-currents for the two systems at fast rotations.
We study the vortex-lattice formation in a rotating Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupled quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) hyper-fine spin-1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in the x-y plane using a numerical solution of the underlying mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In this case, the non-rotating Rashba SO-coupled spinor BEC can have topological excitation in the form of vortices of different angular momenta in the three components, e.g. the (0, +1, +2)- and (-1, 0, +1)-type states in ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic spinor BEC: the numbers in the parenthesis denote the intrinsic angular momentum of the vortex states of the three components with the negative sign denoting an anti-vortex. The presence of these states with intrinsic vorticity breaks the symmetry between rotation with vorticity along the z and -z axes and thus generates a rich variety of vortex-lattice and anti-vortex-lattice states in a rotating quasi-2D spin-1 spinor ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic BEC, not possible in a scalar BEC. For weak SO coupling, we find two types of symmetries of these states - hexagonal and 'square'. The hexagonal (square) symmetry state has vortices arranged in closed concentric orbits with a maximum of 6, 12, 18… (8, 12, 16…) vortices in successive orbits. Of these two symmetries, the square vortex-lattice state is found to have the smaller energy.
By numerically solving the single-particle stationary Schrödinger equation and the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with mean-field interactions at zero temperature, the ground state properties of the rotating spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in a harmonic trapping potential are investigated in this work. The results show that the rotation lifts the double degeneracy of the single-particle energy spectrum in the angular momentum space, and leads to the vortex state. The angular momentum of the vortex depends on the rotating frequency, the intensity of the laser beam, and the spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupling. In particular, if the rotating frequency is below a critical value, the angular momentum of the ground state vortex remains unaffected by the rotating frequency. When the rotating frequency exceeds the critical value, the angular momentum of the ground state vortex will increase with the rotating frequency increasing. By assuming that the system is confined in a ring trap, the expression of the single-particle energy spectrum in the angular momentum space can be obtained, which clarifies how the rotation frequency affects the angular momentum of the ground state. In the presence of atomic interactions, similar phenomena can also be observed in the mean-field ground state at zero temperature.
We consider the quasi-two-dimensional two-component Bose-Einstein condensates with Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling in a rotating trap. The rotation angular velocity couples to the mechanical angular momentum, which contains a noncanonical part arising from SO coupling. The effects of an external Zeeman term favoring spin polarization along the radial direction is also considered, which has the same form as the noncanonical part of the mechanical angular momentum. The rotating condensate exhibits a variety of rich structures by varying the strengths of the trapping potential and interaction. With a strong trapping potential, the condensate exhibits a half-quantum vortex-lattice configuration. Such a configuration is driven to the normal one by introducing the external radial Zeeman field. In the case of a weak trap potential, the condensate exhibits a multidomain pattern of plane-wave states under the external radial Zeeman field.
We investigate the ground states of spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) with spin–orbit coupling in a radially periodic potential by numerically solving the coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations. In the radially periodic potential, we first demonstrate that spin–orbit-coupled antiferromagnetic BECs support a multiring petal phase. Polar–core vortex can be observed from phase profiles, which is manifested as circularly symmetric distribution. We further show that spin–orbit coupling can induce multiring soliton structure in ferromagnetic BECs. It is confirmed especially that the wave-function phase of the ring corresponding to uniform distribution satisfies the rotational symmetry, and the wave-function phase of the ring corresponding to partial splitting breaks the rotational symmetry. Adjusting the spin–orbit coupling strength can control the number of petal in antiferromagnetic BECs and the winding numbers of wave-function in ferromagnetic BECs. Finally, we discuss effects of spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions on the ground states.
Realization of spinor Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical trap has made it possible to create a variety of topological nontrivial structures, due to the vector character of the order parameter. Recently, artificial spin-orbit coupling in the spinor Bose-Einstein condensate, owing to coupling between the spin and the center-of-mass motion of the atom, provides an unprecedented opportunity to search for novel quantum states. As is well known, the potential well in the Bose-Einstein condensate is adjustable. The toroidal trap is an important model potential because of its simplicity and richness in physics. In particular, the spinor Bose-Einstein condensate under the toroidal trap has brought an ideal platform for studying fascinating properties of a superfluid, such as persistent flow and symmetry-breaking localization. For the case of the spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate, the previous studies of the toroidal trap mainly focused on the two-component or antiferromagnetic case. However, in the presence of a toroidal trap, there remains an open question whether the combined effects of the spin-orbit coupling and rotation can produce previously unknown types of topological excitations in the ferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate. In this work, by using quasi two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equations, we study the ground state structure of spin-orbit coupled rotating ferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate in the toroidal trap. We concentrate on the effects of the spin-orbit coupling and the rotation on the ground states. The numerical results show that in the presence of a toroidal trap, the ground state structure is displayed as half-skyrmion chain with circular distribution. Adjusting the strength of spin-orbit coupling not only changes the number of half-skyrmion in the system, but also controls the symmetry of half-skyrmion with circular distribution. As the rotation frequency increases, the system undergoes the transitions from the plane wave to the half-skyrmion chain with circular distribution, and eventually developing the half-skyrmion phase of triangular lattice. Next, we examine the effect of spin-independent interaction on spin-orbit coupled rotating spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. As the spin-independent interaction increases, the topological defects in the condensate increase due to the variation of the local magnetic order. We also discuss the influence of well shape on the ground state structure. These topological structures can be detected via the time-of-flight absorption imaging technique. The spin-orbit coupled spinor Bose-Einstein condensate in the toroidal trap is an important quantum platform, which not only opens up a new avenue for exploring the exotic topological structures, but also is crucial for realizing the transitions among different ground states. This work paves the way for futureexploring the topological defects and the corresponding dynamical stability in quantum system subjected to the toroidal trap.