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Physics

The turbulent matter field of ultracold atoms

Natalia G. Berloff, Boris V. Svistunov

Published Jul 20, 2009• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on the experimental observation of vortex tangles in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of 87 Rb atoms when an external oscillatory perturbation is introduced in the trap.The vortex tangle configuration is a signature of the presence of a turbulent regime in the cloud.We also show that this turbulent cloud suppresses the aspect ratio inversion typically observed in quantum degenerate bosonic gases during free expansion.Instead, the cloud expands keeping the ratio between their axis constant.Turbulence in atomic superfluids may constitute an alternative system to investigate decay mechanisms as well as to test fundamental theoretical aspects in this field.

DOI
10.1103/physics.2.61

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We report on the experimental observation of vortex tangles in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of 87 Rb atoms when an external oscillatory perturbation is introduced in the trap.The vortex tangle configuration is a signature of the presence of a turbulent regime in the cloud.We also show that this turbulent cloud suppresses the aspect ratio inversion typically observed in quantum degenerate bosonic gases during free expansion.Instead, the cloud expands keeping the ratio between their axis constant.Turbulence in atomic superfluids may constitute an alternative system to investigate decay mechanisms as well as to test fundamental theoretical aspects in this field.
We report on the experimental observation of vortex tangles in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of ;{87}Rb atoms when an external oscillatory perturbation is introduced in the trap. The vortex tangle configuration is a signature of the presence of a turbulent regime in the cloud. We also show that this turbulent cloud suppresses the aspect ratio inversion typically observed in quantum degenerate bosonic gases during free expansion. Instead, the cloud expands keeping the ratio between their axis constant. Turbulence in atomic superfluids may constitute an alternative system to investigate decay mechanisms as well as to test fundamental theoretical aspects in this field.
Color snapshot of a trapped 87Rb Bose-Einstein turbulent condensate containing about 105 atoms. The cloud contains a number of quantized vortices spread all over the atomic sample, arranged in an irregular tangled configuration reminding Swiss cheese. The turbulent vortex configuration, observed in a trapped superfluid, presents new perspectives for investigating quantum turbulence phenomena in finite systems. (Cover picture: R.F. Shiozaki, G.D. Telles, et al., pp. 393–397, in this issue) (© 2011 by Astro Ltd., Published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)
In this thesis, we present the generation and studies of a 87 Rb Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) perturbed by an oscillatory excitation. The atoms are trapped in a harmonic magnetic trap where, after an evaporative cooling process, we produce the BEC. In order to study the effect caused by oscillatory excitations, a quadrupole magnetic field time oscillatory is superimposed to the trapping potential. Through this perturbation, collective modes were observed. The dipole mode is excited even for low excitation amplitudes. However, a minimum excitation energy is needed to excite the condensate quadrupole mode. Observing the excited cloud in TOF expansion, we note that for excitation amplitude in which the quadrupole mode is excited, the cloud expands without invert its aspect ratio. By looking these clouds, after long time-of-flight, it was possible to see vortices and, sometimes, a turbulent state in the condensed cloud. We calculated the momentum distribution of the perturbed BECs and a power law behavior, like the law to Kolmogorov turbulence, was observed. Furthermore, we show that using the method that we have developed to calculate the momentum distribution, the distribution curve (including the power law exponent) exhibits a dependence on the quadrupole mode oscillation of the cloud. The randomness distribution of peaks and depletions in density distribution image of an expanded turbulent BEC, remind us to the intensity profile of a speckle light beam. The analogy between matter-wave speckle and light speckle is justified by showing the similarities in the spatial propagation (or time expansion) of the waves. In addition, the second order correlation function is evaluated and the same dependence with distance was observed for the both waves. This creates the possibility to understand the properties of quantum matter in a disordered state. The propagation of a three-dimensional speckle field (as the matter-wave speckle described here) creates an opportunity to investigate the speckle phenomenon existing in dimensions higher than 2D (the case of light speckle).
A novel concept of quantum turbulence in finite size superfluids, such as trapped bosonic atoms, is discussed. We have used an atomic 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb BEC to study the emergence of this phenomenon. In our experiment, the transition to the quantum turbulent regime is characterized by a tangled vortex lines formation, controlled by the amplitude and time duration of the excitation produced by an external oscillating field. A simple model is suggested to account for the experimental observations. The transition from the non-turbulent to the turbulent regime is a rather gradual crossover. But it takes place in a sharp enough way, allowing for the definition of an effective critical line separating the regimes. Quantum turbulence emerging in a finite-size superfluid may be a new idea helpful for revealing important features associated to turbulence, a more general and broad phenomenon.
Relaxation of far-from-equilibrium quantum fluids, intimately related to the emergence of long-range order, is theoretically associated with the decay of a turbulent isotropic tangle of vortex lines. We observe and study such decaying quantum turbulence in a homogeneous 3D atomic Bose gas. Using matter-wave techniques to magnify the gas density distribution, and then imaging a thin slice of the magnified cloud, we observe imprints of randomly oriented vortex lines and measure the vortex line-length density L\mathcal{L}L. The observed decay of L\mathcal{L}L agrees with the prediction for Vinen `ultraquantum' turbulence. Although our weakly interacting gases are highly compressible, their large-scale dynamics are consistent with the behavior of an incompressible hydrodynamic fluid, with the decay of L\mathcal{L}L not depending on the strength of the interatomic interactions and being similar to that in the strongly interacting superfluid helium.