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arXiv:cond-mat/0104444 · Physical Review Letters

Observation of Vortex Phase Singularities in Bose-Einstein Condensates

S. Inouye, Subhadeep Gupta, Till Rosenband, A. P. Chikkatur, Axel Görlitz, T. L. Gustavson, A. E. Leanhardt, David E. Pritchard, Wolfgang Ketterle

Published Aug 2, 2001• 298 citations
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Abstract

We have observed phase singularities due to vortex excitation in Bose-Einstein condensates. Vortices were created by moving a laser beam through a condensate. They were observed as dislocations in the interference fringes formed by the stirred condensate and a second unperturbed condensate. The velocity dependence for vortex excitation and the time scale for re-establishing a uniform phase across the condensate were determined.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.87.080402

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We have observed phase singularities due to vortex excitation in Bose-Einstein condensates. Vortices were created by moving a laser beam through a condensate. They were observed as dislocations in the interference fringes formed by the stirred condensate and a second unperturbed condensate. The velocity dependence for vortex excitation and the time scale for re-establishing a uniform phase across the condensate were determined.
We studied the nucleation of vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate stirred by a laser beam. The vortex cores were observed using time-of-flight absorption imaging. Depending on the stirrer size, either discrete resonances or a broad response was visible as the stir frequency was varied. Stirring beams small compared to the condensate size generated vortices below the critical rotation frequency for the nucleation of surface modes, suggesting a local mechanism of generation. In addition, we observed the centrifugal distortion of the condensate due to the rotating vortex lattice and found evidence for bent vortices.