Previous realizations of synthetic gauge fields for ultracold atoms do not allow the spatial profile of the field to evolve freely. We propose a scheme which overcomes this restriction by using the light in a multimode cavity with many nearly degenerate transverse modes, in conjunction with Raman coupling, to realize an artificial magnetic field which acts on a Bose-Einstein condensate of neutral atoms. We describe the evolution of such a system and present the results of numerical simulations which show dynamical coupling between the effective field and the matter on which it acts. Crucially, the freedom of the spatial profile of the field is sufficient to realize a close analogue of the Meissner effect, where the magnetic field is expelled from the superfluid. This backaction of the atoms on the synthetic field distinguishes the Meissner-like effect described here from the Hess-Fairbank suppression of rotation in a neutral superfluid observed elsewhere.
Soon after its theoretical prediction, striped-density states in the presence of synthetic spin-orbit coupling were realized in Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold neutral atoms [J.-R. Li et al., Nature 543, 91 (2017)]. The achievement opens avenues to explore the interplay of superfluidity and crystalline order in the search for supersolid features and materials. The system considered is essentially made of two linearly coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, that is, a pseudo-spin-
1/2 system, subject to a spin-dependent gauge field ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{z}\ensuremath{\hbar}{k}_{\ensuremath{\ell}}$. Under these conditions, the stripe phase is achieved when the linear coupling $\ensuremath{\hbar}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}/2$ is small against the gauge energy $m\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}/\ensuremath{\hbar}{k}_{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{2}<1$. The resulting density stripes have been interpreted as a standing-wave interference pattern with approximate wave number $2{k}_{\ensuremath{\ell}}$. Here, we show that the emergence of the stripe phase is induced by an array of Josephson vortices living in the junction defined by the linear coupling. As happens in superconducting junctions subject to external magnetic fields, a vortex array is the natural response of the superfluid system to the presence of a gauge field. Also similar to superconductors, the Josephson currents and their associated vortices can be present as a metastable state in the absence of gauge field. We provide closed-form solutions to the 1D mean-field equations that account for such vortex arrays. The underlying Josephson currents coincide with the analytical solutions to the sine-Gordon equation for the relative phase of superconducting junctions [C. Owen and D. Scalapino, Phys. Rev. 164, 538 (1967)].
Magnetic monopoles lie at the crossroads of gauge fields, topology, geometric phases, and charge quantization, yet they remain elusive as fundamental particles. Here we show that an emergent Dirac-monopole framework arises naturally from the dynamics of massive quantum vortices in a spherical superfluid shell. Their dynamics is formally equivalent to that of interacting charged particles constrained to a sphere in the field of a magnetic monopole. The monopole charge is fixed by the superfluid density and automatically satisfies Dirac's quantization condition. The emergent monopole description predicts cyclotron-like vortex motion, in quantitative agreement with Gross--Pitaevskii simulations. We further show that topological frustration induced by two like-charged polar vortices gives rise to the formation of an equatorial vortex necklace, a configuration reminiscent of the polygonal cyclone clusters observed around Jupiter's poles, before its subsequent breakup through a Kelvin--Helmholtz-like instability. Within this framework, the equatorial vortex necklace emerges as the quantized realization of the effective electrostatic line charge that restores global charge neutrality on the sphere. Our results establish spherical superfluids as a versatile platform for realizing and exploring fundamental aspects of Dirac-monopole physics.