Dynamical instability of a rotating dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate

Qiang Zhao, Zhi-Qi Qiu, Lili Zhang

Kui-Tian Xi, Tim Byrnes, Hiroki Saito

Van Duong Dinh

Roxanne Moran, Boaz Ilan, Kevin Mitchell

Rick van Bijnen, Duncan H J O’Dell, Nicholas G. Parker +1 more

We analyze the hydrodynamic solutions for a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate with long-range dipolar interactions in a rotating, elliptical harmonic trap. The static solutions and their regimes of dynamical instability vary nontrivially with the strength of the dipolar interactions. We comprehensively map out this behavior, and, in particular, examine the experimental routes toward unstable dynamics, which, in analogy to conventional condensates, may lead to vortex lattice formation.

S. B. Prasad, Thomas Bland, Brendan C. Mulkerin +2 more

The possibility of effectively inverting the sign of the dipole-dipole interaction, by fast rotation of the dipole polarization, is examined within a harmonically trapped dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate. Our analysis is based on the stationary states in the Thomas-Fermi limit, in the corotating frame, as well as direct numerical simulations in the Thomas-Fermi regime, explicitly accounting for the rotating polarization. The condensate is found to be inherently unstable due to the dynamical instability of collective modes. This ultimately prevents the realization of robust and long-lived rotationally tuned states. Our findings have major implications for experimentally accessing this regime.