The splitting process of quadruply charged vortices into less charged vortices is studied at zero temperature. We solve the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) equation numerically and classify the excitations by angular momentum l relative to the condensates. Unstable modes having complex eigenvalues appear when l = 2-6. It is found that two excitations are coupled with each other when their total energy and angular momentum are zero and yield a pair of complex eigenvalues. The decay process is also numerically simulated by solving the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The behavior of a condensate shows good agreement with the results of BdG. The quadruply charged vortex splits into four singly quantized vortices, which are arranged as a line, triangle, and square according to the angular momentum of the excited eigenmode. We also observe the effect of nonlinearity.
Abstract Utilizing the dissipative Gross–Pitaevskii equation, we investigated the splitting dynamics of triply quantized vortices at finite temperature. Through linear perturbation analysis, we determined the excitation modes of these vortices across various dissipation parameters. We identified three unstable modes with p = 2-, 3- and 4-fold rotational symmetries, revealing a significant dynamic transition of the most unstable mode. That is, as the dissipation parameter increases the most unstable mode transitions from the p = 2 mode to the p = 3 mode. Throughout the entire range of dissipation parameters, the p = 4 unstable mode is never the dominant mode. Subsequently, we performed nonlinear numerical simulations of the vortex splitting process. Under random perturbations we confirmed the dynamical transition, and under specific perturbations we confirmed the instability of the p = 4 mode. Our findings on the finite temperature dependence of the splitting dynamics of triply quantized vortices are expected to be verifiable in experiments.
The stability of doubly quantized vortices in dilute Bose-Einstein condensates of
23Na is examined at zero temperature. The eigenmode spectrum of the Bogoliubov equations for a harmonically trapped cigar-shaped condensate is computed and it is found that the doubly quantized vortex is spectrally unstable towards division into two singly quantized vortices. By numerically solving the full three-dimensional time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, it is found that the two singly quantized vortices intertwine before decaying. This work provides an interpretation of recent experiments [A. E. Leanhardt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 190403 (2002)].
Correspondence between frequency and energy spectra and biorthogonality conditions for the excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates described by the Gross-Pitaevskii model have been derived self-consistently using general properties arising from the Hamiltonian structure of the model. It has been demonstrated that frequency resonances of the excitations with positive and negative energies can lead to their mutual annihilation and appearance of the collective modes with complex frequencies and zero energies. Conditions for the avoided crossing of energy levels have also been discussed. General theory has been verified both numerically and analytically in the weak interaction limit considering an example of vortices in a binary mixture of condensates. Growth of excitations with complex frequencies leads to spiraling of the unit and double vortices out of the condensate center to its periphery and to splitting of the double- and higher order vortices to the unit-order vortices.
We study the splitting of multiply quantized vortices with large quantum numbers in dilute nonrotated Bose-Einstein condensates in the zero-temperature limit. The splitting is observed to result in vortex-free condensate fragments which are separated by vortex sheets. The number of these fragments is found to be equal to the angular-momentum quantum number of the Bogoliubov excitation mode responsible for the splitting, although the formulation of the fragments cannot be described by small-amplitude excitations. Thus, the realization of an isolated giant vortex and the observation of its splitting would provide a means to directly relate the experimental data to discrete theoretical quantities.
We study numerically the dynamical instabilities and splitting of singly and doubly quantized composite vortices in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates harmonically confined to quasi two dimensions. In this system, the vortices become pointlike composite defects that can be classified in terms of an integer pair $({\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{1},\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{2})$ of phase winding numbers. Our simulations based on zero-temperature mean-field theory reveal several vortex splitting behaviors that stem from the multicomponent nature of the system and do not have direct counterparts in single-component condensates. By calculating the Bogoliubov excitations of stationary axisymmetric composite vortices, we find nonreal excitation frequencies (i.e., dynamical instabilities) for the singly quantized
(1,1) and $(1,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{-}1)$ vortices and for all variants of doubly quantized vortices, which we define by the condition ${max}_{j=1,2}|{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{j}|=2$. While the short-time predictions of the linear Bogoliubov analysis are confirmed by direct time integration of the Gross-Pitaevskii equations of motion, the time integration also reveals intricate long-time decay behavior not captured by the linearized dynamics. First, the $(1,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1)$ vortex is found to be unstable against splitting into a
(1,0) vortex and a $(0,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1)$ vortex. Second, the
(2,1) vortex exhibits a two-step decay process in which its initial splitting into a
(2,0) vortex and a
(0,1) vortex is followed by the off-axis splitting of the
(2,0) vortex into two
(1,0) vortices. Third, the $(2,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{-}2)$ vortex is observed to split into a $(\ensuremath{-}1,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}1)$ vortex, three
(1,0) vortices, and three $(0,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{-}1)$ vortices. Each of these splitting processes is the dominant decay mechanism of the respective stationary composite vortex for a wide range of intercomponent interaction strengths and relative populations of the two condensate components and should be amenable to experimental detection. Our results contribute to a better understanding of vortex physics, hydrodynamic instabilities, and two-dimensional quantum turbulence in multicomponent superfluids.