We numerically study the vortex-vortex interaction in multicomponent homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates within the realm of the Gross-Pitaevskii theory. We provide strong evidence that pairwise vortex interaction captures the underlying mechanisms which determine the geometric configuration of the vortices, such as different lattices in many-vortex states, as well as the bound vortex states with two (dimer) or three (trimer) vortices. Specifically, we discuss and apply our theoretical approach to investigate intra- and intercomponent vortex-vortex interactions in two- and three-component Bose-Einstein condensates, thereby shedding light on the formation of the exotic vortex configurations. These results correlate with current experimental efforts in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates and the understanding of the role of vortex interactions in multiband superconductors.
Thermal fluctuations and melting transitions for rotating single-component superfluids have been intensively studied and are well understood. In contrast, the thermal effects on vortex states for two-component superfluids with density-density interaction, which have a much richer variety of vortex ground states, have been much less studied. Here, we investigate the thermal effects on vortex matter in superfluids with $\mathrm{U}(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{U}(1)$ broken symmetries and intercomponent density-density interactions, as well as the case with a larger
SU(2) broken symmetry obtainable from the $[\mathrm{U}(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{U}(1)]$-symmetric case by tuning scattering lengths. In the former case we find that, in addition to first-order melting transitions, the system exhibits thermally driven phase transitions between square and hexagonal lattices. Our main result, however, concerns the case where the condensate exhibits
SU(2) symmetry, and where vortices are not topological. At finite temperature, the system exhibits effects which do not have a counterpart in single-component systems. Namely, it has a state where thermally averaged quantities show no regular vortex lattice, yet the system retains superfluid coherence along the axis of rotation. In such a state, the thermal fluctuations result in transitions between different (nearly) degenerate vortex states without undergoing a melting transition. Our results apply to multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates, and we suggest how to detect some of these unusual effects experimentally in such systems.