The ground state of a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interaction in a quasi-one-dimensional torus is studied in terms of the ratio $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ of the mean-field interaction energy per particle to the single-particle energy-level spacing. The plateaus of quantized circulation are found to appear if and only if $\ensuremath{\gamma}<1$ with the lengths of the plateaus reduced due to hybridization of the condensate over different angular-momentum states.
We investigate the ground and low excited states of a rotating, weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensed gas in a harmonic trap for a given angular momentum. Analytical results in various limits as well as numerical results are presented, and these are compared with those of previous studies. Within the mean-field approximation and for repulsive interaction between the atoms, we find that for very low values of the total angular momentum per particle, $L/\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{N}0,$ where $L\ensuremath{\Elzxh}$ is the angular momentum and N is the total number of particles, the angular momentum is carried by quadrupole
(∣m∣=2) surface modes. For
L/N=1, a vortexlike state is formed and all the atoms occupy the
m=1 state. For small negative values of $L/N\ensuremath{-}1,$ the states with
m=0 and
m=2 become populated, and for small positive values of $L/N\ensuremath{-}1,$ atoms in the states with
m=5 and
m=6 carry the additional angular momentum. In the whole region
0< L/N< 1, we have strong analytic and numerical evidence that the interaction energy drops linearly as a function of
L/N. We have also found that an array of singly quantized vortices is formed as
L/N increases. Finally, we have gone beyond the mean-field approximation and have calculated the energy of the lowest state up to order N for small negative values of $L/N\ensuremath{-}1,$ as well as the energy of the low-lying excited states.
A novel algorithm of Diagrammatic Quantum Monte Carlo in momentum representation is reported in details. New models can be studied with this algorithm. For Bose systems with attractive interaction, the algorithm is free of the well-known minus-sign problem, while in other models it is weaker than in real-space methods. Using this algorithm, we present the results of an exact numeric simulation of N one-dimensional bosons with attractive delta-functional interaction in a rotating ring. We prove that in the large-N limit the system can be described by conventional methods of weakly interacting gas, the dimensionless parameter of weak interaction being just 1/N. When the strength of interaction is less then a certain threshold value, the dependence of angular momentum on the rotation frequency features plateaus characteristic of the irrotational fluid (the Hess-Fairbank effect).
We generalize the concept of quantum phase transitions, which is conventionally defined for a ground state and usually applied in the thermodynamic limit, to one for metastable states in finite-size systems. In particular, we treat the one-dimensional Bose gas on a ring in the presence of both interactions and rotation. To support our study, we bring to bear mean-field theory, i.e., the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation, and linear perturbation or Bogoliubov--de Gennes theory. Both methods give a consistent result in the weakly interacting regime: there exist two topologically distinct quantum phases. The first is the typical picture of superfluidity in a Bose-Einstein condensate on a ring: average angular momentum is quantized and the superflow is uniform. The second is where one or more dark solitons appear as stationary states, breaking the symmetry, the average angular momentum becomes a continuous quantity. The phase of the condensate can therefore be continuously wound and unwound.
In this thesis, I explore the behavior of rotating ultra-cold Bose gases, by diagonalizing the Hamiltonian. This method has the advantage of being exact in the limit of weak interactions, and thus is a useful complement to the more commonly used Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation, which relies on a mean-field approximation. It is generally known that an ultra-cold Bose gas shows some remarkable properties under rotation, such as quantized vortices and persistent currents, and these are one main reason why we choose to study rotation. Abstract A repulsively interacting Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a harmonic trapping potential will form singly quantized vortices when rotated. Papers I-V are examples of different kinds of generalizations to this basic system, each showing its particular non-trivial new features. Abstract In Paper I we make the trapping potential weakly anharmonic, and confirm the existence of multiply quantized vortices in both repulsively and attractively interacting condensates, which were previously predicted in Gross-Pitaevskii calculations. Abstract In Papers II and III, we generalize to a two-component system in a harmonic trap. The vortices that form under rotation will in general be coreless, i.e. one component will form a vortex and rotate around the other component. In Paper II we give some analytical expressions for the dispersion relation and occupation numbers at low angular momenta, and in Paper III we show how multiply quantized vortices can be stable in these systems. Abstract Finally we investigate bosons in potentials which can support persistent currents, i.e. rotating states that do not decay in a finite amount of time. These are possible if there is an energy barrier separating the rotating state from the non-rotating ground state. In Paper IV, we have a two-component condensate in a one-dimensional potential and we calculate among other things the minimum interaction strength where persistent currents can occur. In Paper V, we study an experimentally relevant two-dimensional annulus. Again we find that persistent currents are possible above a certain interaction strength, and we find this strength as a function of the width of the annulus, as well as how it depends on the relative population of the two species.
The exact ground state of the many-body Schr\"odinger equation for
N bosons on a one-dimensional ring interacting via a pairwise $\ensuremath{\delta}$-function interaction is presented for up to 50 particles. The solutions are obtained by solving Lieb and Liniger's system of coupled transcendental equations numerically for finite
N. The ground-state energies for repulsive and attractive interactions are shown to be smoothly connected at the point of zero interaction strength, implying that the Bethe ansatz can be used also for attractive interactions for all cases studied. For repulsive interactions the exact energies are compared to (i) Lieb and Liniger's thermodynamic limit solution and (ii) the Tonks-Girardeau gas limit. It is found that the energy of the thermodynamic limit solution can differ substantially from that of the exact solution for finite
N when the interaction is weak or when
N is small. A simple relation between the Tonks-Girardeau gas limit and the solution for finite interaction strength is revealed. For attractive interactions we find that the true ground-state energy is given to a good approximation by the energy of the system of
N attractive bosons on an infinite line, provided the interaction is stronger than the critical interaction strength of mean-field theory.