d -Wave Collapse and Explosion of a Dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensate
Thierry Lahaye, Jonas Metz, B. Fröhlich +7 more
We investigate the collapse dynamics of a dipolar condensate of 52Cr atoms when the s-wave scattering length characterizing the contact interaction is reduced below a critical value. A complex dynamics, involving an anisotropic, d-wave symmetric explosion of the condensate, is observed. The atom number decreases abruptly during the collapse. We find good agreement between our experimental results and those of a numerical simulation of the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation, including contact and dipolar interactions as well as three-body losses. The simulation indicates that the collapse induces the formation of two vortex rings with opposite circulations.
arXiv:0803.2442•Physical Review Letters•Aug 18, 2008•349 citations