Vortex matter in atomic Bose–Einstein condensates

Leslie O. Baksmaty, Y. Liu, Uzi Landman +2 more

Egor S. Babaev, E. K. Dahl, Asle Sudbø

Tapio Simula, Timothy C. Petersen, David M. Paganin

We propose a nonlinear atom-optics experiment to create diffraction catastrophes threaded by quantized vortex skeletons in Bose-Einstein-condensed matter waves. We show how atom-optical aberrations induced in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates evolve into specific caustic structures due to imperfect focusing. Vortex skeletons, whose cross sections are staggered vortex lattices, are observed to nucleate inside the universal diffraction catastrophes. Our observations shed further light on the structure and dynamics of Bose novae and suggest applications of matter wave diffraction catastrophes, including the detection of the order parameter pairing symmetry in cold gas experiments.

Muneto Nitta, Minoru Eto, M. Cipriani

Sulakshana Thanvanthri, Kishore T. Kapale, Jonathan P. Dowling

Matter–wave interferometers are, in principle, orders of magnitude more sensitive than their optical counterparts. Nevertheless, creation of matter–wave currents to achieve such a sensitivity is a continuing challenge. Here, we propose the use of Optical-Angular-Momentum (OAM) induced vortex superpositions in Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) as an alternative to other atom interferometers for gyroscopy. The coherent superposition of two counter-rotating vortex states of a trapped condensate leads to an interference pattern that rotates by an angle proportional to the angular velocity of the rotating trap – in accordance with the Sagnac effect. We show that the rotation rate can be easily read out, and that the device is highly stable. The signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity of the scheme are also estimated.

Tapio Simula