Formation of multiple domains and quantized vortices in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates(3) Chaos and nonlinear dynamics in dissipative systems(including BEC and pattern formations), Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics in Quantum-Mechanical and Macroscopic Systems)
This report addresses our recent study on pattern formation in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates(BECs), focusing on the dynamics of multiple-domain formation and the structure of vortex states in rotating condensates. Cross-phase modulation instability gives rise to formation of multiple domains that alternate two components, which are consistent with the experimental observation by the MIT group. Rotating two-component BECs exhibit a rich variety of vortex states such as square lattices and vortex sheets, which depend on the strength of intercomponent interaction and rotation frequency.
This report addresses our recent study on pattern formation in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates(BECs), focusing on the dynamics of multiple-domain formation and the structure of vortex states in rotating condensates. Cross-phase modulation instability gives rise to formation of multiple domains that alternate two components, which are consistent with the experimental observation by the MIT group. Rotating two-component BECs exhibit a rich variety of vortex states such as square lattices and vortex sheets, which depend on the strength of intercomponent interaction and rotation frequency.
We review the topic of quantized vortices in multicomponent Bose–Einstein condensates of dilute atomic gases, with an emphasis on the two-component condensates. First, we review the fundamental structure, stability and dynamics of a single vortex state in a slowly rotating two-component condensates. To understand recent experimental results, we use the coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations and the generalized nonlinear sigma model. An axisymmetric vortex state, which was observed by the JILA group, can be regarded as a topologically trivial skyrmion in the pseudospin representation. The internal, coherent coupling between the two components breaks the axisymmetry of the vortex state, resulting in a stable vortex molecule (a meron pair). We also mention unconventional vortex states and monopole excitations in a spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate. Next, we discuss a rich variety of vortex states realized in rapidly rotating two-component Bose–Einstein condensates. We introduce a phase diagram with axes of rotation frequency and the intercomponent coupling strength. This phase diagram reveals unconventional vortex states such as a square lattice, a double-core lattice, vortex stripes and vortex sheets, all of which are in an experimentally accessible parameter regime. The coherent coupling leads to an effective attractive interaction between two components, providing not only a promising candidate to tune the intercomponent interaction to study the rich vortex phases but also a new regime to explore vortex states consisting of vortex molecules characterized by anisotropic vorticity. A recent experiment by the JILA group vindicated the formation of a square vortex lattice in this system.
We investigate the structure of vortex states in rotating two-component Bose-Einstein condensates with equal intracomponent but varying intercomponent-coupling constants. A phase diagram in the intercomponent-coupling versus rotation-frequency plane reveals rich equilibrium structures of vortex states. As the ratio of intercomponent to intracomponent couplings increases, the interlocked vortex lattices undergo phase transitions from triangular to square, to double-core lattices, and eventually develop interwoven "serpentine" vortex sheets with each component made up of chains of singly quantized vortices.
We investigate vortex states of immiscible two-component Bose-Einstein condensates under rotation through numerical simulations of the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations. For strong intercomponent repulsion, the two components undergo phase separation to form several density domains of the same component. In the presence of the rotation, the nucleated vortices are aligned between the domains to make up winding chains of singly quantized vortices, a vortex sheet, instead of periodic vortex lattices. The vortices of one component are located at the region of the density domains of the other component, which results in the serpentine domain structure. The sheet configuration is stable as long as the imbalance of the intracomponent parameter is small. We employ a planar sheet model to estimate the distance between neighboring sheets, determined by the competition between the surface tension of the domain wall and the kinetic energy of the superflow via quantized vortices. By comparing the several length scales in this system, the phase diagram of the vortex state is obtained.
The dynamics of multiple domain formation caused by the modulation instability of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates in an axially symmetric trap are studied by numerically integrating the coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations. The modulation instability induced by the intercomponent mean-field coupling occurs in the out-of-phase fluctuation of the wave function and leads to the formation of multiple domains that alternate from one domain to another, where the phase of one component jumps across the density dips where the domains of the other exist. This behavior is analogous to a soliton train, which explains the origin of the long lifetime of the spin domains observed by Miesner et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 2228 (1999)]].
In a rotating two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), the traditional triangular vortex lattice can be replaced by a rectangular vortex lattice or even a structure characterized in terms of vortex sheets, depending on the interspecies interactions. We study the dynamics of this system by analyzing the Bogoliubov excitation spectrum. Excitations familiar to BEC vortex systems are found such as Tkachenko modes, hydrodynamic modes, and surface waves, however, the complex two-component morphology also gives rise to phenomena including shear flow between vortex sheets.
Abstract Chapter 4 addresses the progress of studies on superfluid dynamics, mainly related to the dynamics of quantized vortices, in cold-atom BECs. First, we give a minimal description of the physics of cold atoms, e.g. cooling, trapping, control of interatomic interactions by external fields. We then turn to the argument of superfluid hydrodynamics in a scalar BEC characterized by a single-component order parameter. The properties of the vortices can be well described on the basis of the GP model, which allows a quantitative comparison between theory and experiment. We will discuss topics such as single vortex dynamics, interacting dynamics of a few vortices, vortex lattice formation in a rotating BEC, and collective properties of a vortex lattice in a rapidly rotating BEC, which have been unraveled experimentally by direct visualization of vortices in condensed gases. Next, we will discuss the properties of vortices in multicomponent BECs characterized by the multicomponent order parameters. We will first explain the vortex physics in two-component BECs as a simple case, finding that their structures and dynamics are highly nontrivial due to the presence of the intercomponent interaction; we will cover the topics of vortex structure composed of two-component order parameters, dynamics of composite vortices, exotic vortex lattices, and hydrodynamic instabilities associated with the interface dynamics between immiscible condensates. Finally, we explain the vortices in a spinor BEC. The vortex structures are extremely rich due to the complicated order parameter manifold, which is clarified by the discussion on vortices in spin-1 and spin-2 spinor BECs.