Trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) differ considerably from the standard textbook example of a uniform Bose gas. In an isotropic harmonic potential V(r) = ½Mω2 r 2, the single-particle ground state introduces a new intrinsic scale of length [the ground-state size d = √ℏ/(Mω)] and energy [the ground-state energy E 0 = $$ \frac{3} {2} $$ ℏω]. When the trap rotates at a low angular velocity, the behavior of a single vortex illustrates the crucial role of discrete quantized vorticity. For more rapid rotation, the condensate contains a vortex array. The resulting centrifugal forces expand the condensate radially and shrink it axially; thus, the condensate becomes effectively two dimensional. If the external rotation speed approaches the frequency of the radial harmonic confining potential, the condensate enters the “lowest-Landau-level” regime, and a simple description again becomes possible. Eventually, the system is predicted to make a quantum phase transition to a highly correlated state analogous to the fractional quantum Hall states of electrons in a strong magnetic field.
Trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) differ considerably from the standard textbook example of a uniform Bose gas. In an isotropic harmonic potential V(r) = ½Mω2 r 2, the single-particle ground state introduces a new intrinsic scale of length [the ground-state size d = √ℏ/(Mω)] and energy [the ground-state energy E 0 = 23 ℏω]. When the trap rotates at a low angular velocity, the behavior of a single vortex illustrates the crucial role of discrete quantized vorticity. For more rapid rotation, the condensate contains a vortex array. The resulting centrifugal forces expand the condensate radially and shrink it axially; thus, the condensate becomes effectively two dimensional. If the external rotation speed approaches the frequency of the radial harmonic confining potential, the condensate enters the “lowest-Landau-level” regime, and a simple description again becomes possible. Eventually, the system is predicted to make a quantum phase transition to a highly correlated state analogous to the fractional quantum Hall states of electrons in a strong magnetic field.
I review free and trapped Bose‐Einstein condensates (BECs) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In an isotropic harmonic potential V(r) = 12Mω2r2, the single‐particle ground state introduces a new intrinsic scale of length [the ground‐state size d = ℏ/(Mω)] and energy [the ground‐state energy E0 = 32ℏω]. When the trap rotates [6, 7, 8], there is a critical angular velocity for the appearance of one or a few quantized vortices. For more rapid rotation [9, 10, 11, 12, 13] the condensate contains a vortex array. The resulting centrifugal forces expand the condensate radially and shrink it axially; thus the condensate becomes effectively two‐dimensional. If the external rotation speed approaches the frequency of the radial harmonic confining potential, the condensate enters the “lowest‐Landau‐level” regime, and a simple description again becomes possible [14, 15]. Eventually, the system is predicted to make a quantum phase transition to a highly correlated state analogous to the fractional quantum Hall states of electrons in a strong magnetic field [16, 17, 18, 19, 20].
After reviewing the ideal Bose-Einstein gas in a box and in a harmonic trap, I discuss the effect of interactions on the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), along with the dynamics of small-amplitude perturbations (the Bogoliubov equations). When the condensate rotates with angular velocity Omega, one or several vortices nucleate, with many observable consequences. With more rapid rotation, the vortices form a dense triangular array, and the collective behavior of these vortices has additional experimental implications. For Omega near the radial trap frequency omega_perp, the lowest-Landau-level approximation becomes applicable, providing a simple picture of such rapidly rotating condensates. Eventually, as Omega approaches omega_perp, the rotating dilute gas is expected to undergo a quantum phase transition from a superfluid to various highly correlated (nonsuperfluid) states analogous to those familiar from the fractional quantum Hall effect for electrons in a strong perpendicular magnetic field.
After reviewing the ideal Bose-Einstein gas in a box and in a harmonic trap, the effect of interactions on the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate are discussed, along with the dynamics of small-amplitude perturbations (the Bogoliubov equations). When the condensate rotates with angular velocity $\ensuremath{\Omega}$, one or several vortices nucleate, leading to many observable consequences. With more rapid rotation, the vortices form a dense triangular array, and the collective behavior of these vortices has additional experimental implications. For $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ near the radial trap frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$, the lowest-Landau-level approximation becomes applicable, providing a simple picture of such rapidly rotating condensates. Eventually, as $\ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$, the rotating dilute gas is expected to undergo a quantum phase transition from a superfluid to various highly correlated (nonsuperfluid) states analogous to those familiar from the fractional quantum Hall effect for electrons in a strong perpendicular magnetic field.
A rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensate in a symmetric two-dimensional harmonic trap can be described with the lowest Landau-level set of single-particle states. The condensate wave function $\ensuremath{\psi}(x,y)$ is a Gaussian $\ensuremath{\propto}\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}{r}^{2}/2)$, multiplied by an analytic function f(z) of the complex variable z=x+iy. The criterion for a quantum phase transition to a non-superfluid correlated many-body state is usually expressed in terms of the ratio of the number of particles to the number of vortices. Here a similar description applies to a rapidly rotating nonsymmetric two-dimensional trap with arbitrary quadratic anisotropy (${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{x}^{2}<{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{y}^{2}$). The corresponding condensate wave function $\ensuremath{\psi}(x,y)$ is a complex anisotropic Gaussian with a phase proportional to xy, multiplied by an analytic function f(z), where $z=x+i{\ensuremath{\beta}}_{\ensuremath{-}}y$ is a stretched complex variable and $0\ensuremath{\leqslant}{\ensuremath{\beta}}_{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\leqslant}1$ is a real parameter that depends on the trap anisotropy and the rotation frequency. Both in the mean-field Thomas-Fermi approximation and in the mean-field lowest Landau level approximation with many visible vortices, an anisotropic parabolic density profile minimizes the energy. An elongated condensate grows along the soft trap direction yet ultimately shrinks along the tight trap direction. The criterion for the quantum phase transition to a correlated state is generalized (1) in terms of N/Lz, which suggests that a nonsymmetric trap should make it easier to observe this transition, or (2) in terms of a ``fragmented'' correlated state, which suggests that a nonsymmetric trap should make it harder to observe this transition. An alternative scenario involves a crossover to a quasi one-dimensional condensate without visible vortices, as suggested by Aftalion et al., Phys. Rev. A 79, 011603(R) (2009).
This thesis contains theoretical studies of weakly interacting, trapped Bose-Einstein condensed gases. The main emphasis is on the rotational properties of these systems. A typical Bose-Einstein condensate reacts to external rotation by forming singly quantized vortices. By the word ”typical” we refer to a condensate with repulsive interparticle interactions and with a frozen spin degree of freedom. However, there are some atomic species for which the low-energy interactions are attractive. Moreover, the tuning of different condensate properties is relatively easy. For example, there are ways to experimentally change the effective interaction from repulsive to attractive. For an attractively interacting condensate the vortex is not the only possible rotational state but the sample may also experience rotation through its center of mass. In the first part of the thesis, we analyze some properties of a rotating attractive Bose gas at the zero temperature limit. First, we note that in order to maintain energetical stability, the gas has to be rotated in an external trap which is steeper than a harmonic trap. We study the system in an anharmonic quadratic + quartic potential. The rotating ground state phase-space is determined with analytical and numerical methods. If the interactions are strong enough, the rotating ground state appears to be a state with the rotating center of mass. On the other hand, at the limit of weak interactions the system experiences rotation by forming a multiply quantized vortex. We also determine the spectrum of elementary excitations for these quantum many-particle states. We find that the broken symmetry of the center of mass rotating state induces an additional zero-energy (Goldstone) mode and that the small oscillations of the ground state exhibit the decoupling between the center of mass and relative motions. If the spin of the atoms is allowed to change freely, a rich variety of topological excitations in condensates can be studied. External rotation is one of the tools for examining the excitations in spinor condensates. In a spinless scalar condensate the appearance of a quantized vortex is manifested by the vortex line in which the condensate density vanishes. In the plane perpendicular to the vortex line, one speaks of the vortex core for the density minimum. We study the properties of slowly rotated F = 1 spinor condensates and show that for ferromagnetic interactions the ground state is a coreless vortex. While the individual spin components may carry ordinary vortices the overall density of the system is coreless. We also study a method to create a point-like monopole structure in a ferromagnetic condensate by suitably imprinting vortices and solitons for different spin components of the condensate.
A two-dimensional rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensate in an anharmonic trap with quadratic and quartic radial confinement is studied analytically with the Thomas-Fermi approximation and numerically with the full time-independent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The quartic trap potential allows the rotation speed $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ to exceed the radial harmonic frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$. In the regime $\ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$, the condensate contains a dense vortex array (approximated as solid-body rotation for the analytical studies). At a critical angular velocity ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{h}$, a central hole appears in the condensate. Numerical studies confirm the predicted value of ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{h}$, even for interaction parameters that are not in the Thomas-Fermi limit. The behavior is also investigated at larger angular velocities, where the system is expected to undergo a transition to a giant vortex (with pure irrotational flow).