Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/0410665 · Physical Review A

Vortex patterns in a fast rotating Bose-Einstein condensate

Amandine Aftalion, Xavier Blanc, Jean Dalibard

Published Feb 25, 2005• 129 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

For a fast rotating condensate in a harmonic trap, we investigate the structure of the vortex lattice using wave functions minimizing the Gross-Pitaevskii energy in the lowest Landau level. We find that the minimizer of the energy in the rotating frame has a distorted vortex lattice for which we plot the typical distribution. We compute analytically the energy of an infinite regular lattice and of a class of distorted lattices. We find the optimal distortion and relate it to the decay of the wave function. Finally, we generalize our method to other trapping potentials.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.71.023611

Related papers

Vortex Lattices in Rotating Bose–Einstein Condensates

Amandine Aftalion, Xavier Blanc

The structure of the vortex lattice for a fast rotating condensate in a harmonic trap has been studied experimentally and numerically: it is an almost regular hexagonal lattice, with a distortion on the edges. In this paper, we provide rigorous proofs of results announced in [A. Aftalion, X. Blanc, and J. Dalibard, Phys. Rev. A, 71 (2005), p. 023611]. We analyze the vortex pattern in the framework of the Gross–Pitaevskii energy using wave functions in the lowest Landau level. We compute the energy of a regular triangular lattice and of a class of distorted lattices and find the optimal distortion which provides a decay of the wave function similar to an inverted parabola.

SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis•Jan 1, 2006•23 citations

Lowest-Landau-level vortex structure of a Bose-Einstein condensate rotating in a harmonic plus quartic trap

Xavier Blanc, Nicolas Rougerie

We investigate the vortex patterns appearing in a two-dimensional annular Bose-Einstein condensate rotating in a quadratic plus quartic confining potential. We show that in the limit of small anharmonicity the Gross-Pitaevskii energy can be minimized among the lowest-Landau-level wave functions and use this particular form to obtain theoretical results in the spirit of Aftalion et al. [Phys. Rev. A 73, 011601(R) (2006)]. In particular, we show that the vortex pattern is infinite but not uniform. We also compute numerically the complete vortex structure: It is an Abrikosov lattice strongly distorted near the edges of the condensate with multiply quantized vortices appearing at the center of the trap.

arXiv:0801.3571•Physical Review A•May 29, 2008•23 citations

Vortex core structure and global properties of rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensates

Gordon Baym, C. J. Pethick

We develop an approach for calculating stationary states of rotating Bose-Einstein condensates in harmonic traps which is applicable for arbitrary ratios of the rotation frequency to the transverse frequency of the trap ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$. Assuming the number of vortices to be large, we write the condensate wave function as the product of a function that describes the structure of individual vortices times an envelope function varying slowly on the scale of the vortex spacing. By minimizing the energy, we derive Gross-Pitaevskii equations that determine the properties of individual vortices and the global structure of the cloud. For low rotation rates, the structure of a vortex is that of an isolated vortex in a uniform medium, while for rotation rates approaching the frequency of the trap (the mean-field lowest-Landau-level regime), the structure is that of the lowest $p$-wave state of a particle in a harmonic trap with frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$. The global structure of the cloud is determined by minimizing the energy with respect to variations of the envelope function; for conditions appropriate to most experimental investigations to date, we predict that the transverse density profile of the cloud will be of the Thomas-Fermi form, rather than the Gaussian structure predicted on the assumption that the wave function consists only of components in the lowest Landau level for a regular array of vortices.

arXiv:cond-mat/0308325•Physical Review A•Apr 27, 2004•71 citations

Vortex lattices in fast rotating Bose-Einstein condensates between the Thomas-Fermi and the lowest-Landau-level regimes

Zhongzhou Chen, Changru Ma, Yong-li Ma

We present an explicit analytical analysis of the ground state of vortex lattice structures, based on a minimization of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional in a fast rotating Bose-Einstein condensate between the Thomas-Fermi and the lowest-Landau-level regimes. By a Bogoliubov-like transformation we find that the coarse-grained average of the atomic density varies as ${[1\ensuremath{-}({x}^{2}+{y}^{2})∕{R}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2}]}^{3∕2}$ in the $xy$ plane, and that the vortices form an almost regular triangular lattice. Our variational calculation is quantitatively and qualitatively consistent with recent analytical, numerical, and experimental data.

Physical Review A•Nov 20, 2006•2 citations

Vortex lattice of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating anisotropic trap

Mehmet Özgür Oktel

We study the vortex lattices in a Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating anisotropic harmonic trap. We first investigate the single-particle wave functions obtained by the exact solution of the problem and give simple expressions for these wave functions in the small anisotropy limit. Depending on the strength of the interactions, a few or a large number of vortices can be formed. In the limit of many vortices, we calculate the density profile of the cloud and show that the vortex lattice stays triangular. We also find that the vortex lattice planes align themselves with the weak axis of the external potential. For a small number of vortices, we numerically solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and find vortex configurations that are very different from the vortex configurations in an axisymmetric rotating trap.

arXiv:cond-mat/0309613•Physical Review A•Feb 26, 2004•52 citations

Structure of vortices in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates

Gentaro Watanabe A, S. Andrew Gifford, Gordon Baym +1 more

We calculate the structure of individual vortices in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates in a transverse harmonic trap. Making a Wigner-Seitz approximation for the unit cell of the vortex lattice, we derive the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the condensate wave function in each cell of the lattice, including effects of varying coarse grained density. We calculate the Abrikosov parameter, the fractional core area, and the energy of individual cells.

arXiv:cond-mat/0606151•Physical Review A•Dec 20, 2006•18 citations
For a fast rotating condensate in a harmonic trap, we investigate the structure of the vortex lattice using wave functions minimizing the Gross-Pitaevskii energy in the lowest Landau level. We find that the minimizer of the energy in the rotating frame has a distorted vortex lattice for which we plot the typical distribution. We compute analytically the energy of an infinite regular lattice and of a class of distorted lattices. We find the optimal distortion and relate it to the decay of the wave function. Finally, we generalize our method to other trapping potentials.
The structure of the vortex lattice for a fast rotating condensate in a harmonic trap has been studied experimentally and numerically: it is an almost regular hexagonal lattice, with a distortion on the edges. In this paper, we provide rigorous proofs of results announced in [A. Aftalion, X. Blanc, and J. Dalibard, Phys. Rev. A, 71 (2005), p. 023611]. We analyze the vortex pattern in the framework of the Gross–Pitaevskii energy using wave functions in the lowest Landau level. We compute the energy of a regular triangular lattice and of a class of distorted lattices and find the optimal distortion which provides a decay of the wave function similar to an inverted parabola.
We investigate the vortex patterns appearing in a two-dimensional annular Bose-Einstein condensate rotating in a quadratic plus quartic confining potential. We show that in the limit of small anharmonicity the Gross-Pitaevskii energy can be minimized among the lowest-Landau-level wave functions and use this particular form to obtain theoretical results in the spirit of Aftalion et al. [Phys. Rev. A 73, 011601(R) (2006)]. In particular, we show that the vortex pattern is infinite but not uniform. We also compute numerically the complete vortex structure: It is an Abrikosov lattice strongly distorted near the edges of the condensate with multiply quantized vortices appearing at the center of the trap.
We develop an approach for calculating stationary states of rotating Bose-Einstein condensates in harmonic traps which is applicable for arbitrary ratios of the rotation frequency to the transverse frequency of the trap ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$. Assuming the number of vortices to be large, we write the condensate wave function as the product of a function that describes the structure of individual vortices times an envelope function varying slowly on the scale of the vortex spacing. By minimizing the energy, we derive Gross-Pitaevskii equations that determine the properties of individual vortices and the global structure of the cloud. For low rotation rates, the structure of a vortex is that of an isolated vortex in a uniform medium, while for rotation rates approaching the frequency of the trap (the mean-field lowest-Landau-level regime), the structure is that of the lowest ppp-wave state of a particle in a harmonic trap with frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$. The global structure of the cloud is determined by minimizing the energy with respect to variations of the envelope function; for conditions appropriate to most experimental investigations to date, we predict that the transverse density profile of the cloud will be of the Thomas-Fermi form, rather than the Gaussian structure predicted on the assumption that the wave function consists only of components in the lowest Landau level for a regular array of vortices.
We present an explicit analytical analysis of the ground state of vortex lattice structures, based on a minimization of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional in a fast rotating Bose-Einstein condensate between the Thomas-Fermi and the lowest-Landau-level regimes. By a Bogoliubov-like transformation we find that the coarse-grained average of the atomic density varies as ${[1\ensuremath{-}({x}^{2}+{y}^{2})∕{R}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2}]}^{3∕2}$ in the xyxyxy plane, and that the vortices form an almost regular triangular lattice. Our variational calculation is quantitatively and qualitatively consistent with recent analytical, numerical, and experimental data.
We study the vortex lattices in a Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating anisotropic harmonic trap. We first investigate the single-particle wave functions obtained by the exact solution of the problem and give simple expressions for these wave functions in the small anisotropy limit. Depending on the strength of the interactions, a few or a large number of vortices can be formed. In the limit of many vortices, we calculate the density profile of the cloud and show that the vortex lattice stays triangular. We also find that the vortex lattice planes align themselves with the weak axis of the external potential. For a small number of vortices, we numerically solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and find vortex configurations that are very different from the vortex configurations in an axisymmetric rotating trap.