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arXiv:cond-mat/9910233 · Physical Review A

Hydrodynamic approach to vortex lifetimes in trapped Bose condensates

Emil Lundh, Ping Ao

Published May 17, 2000• 87 citations
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Abstract

We study a vortex in a two-dimensional, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate at zero temperature. Through a variational calculation using a trial condensate wave function and a nonlinear Schr\"odinger Lagrangian, we obtain the effective potential experienced by a vortex at an arbitrary position in the condensate, and find that an off-center vortex will move in a circular trajectory around the trap center. We find the frequency of this precession to be smaller than the elementary excitation frequencies in the cloud. We also study the radiation of sound from a moving vortex in an infinite, uniform system, and discuss the validity of this as an approximation for the trapped case. Furthermore, we estimate the lifetime of a vortex due to imperfections in the trapping potential.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.61.063612

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We study a vortex in a two-dimensional, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate at zero temperature. Through a variational calculation using a trial condensate wave function and a nonlinear Schr"odinger Lagrangian, we obtain the effective potential experienced by a vortex at an arbitrary position in the condensate, and find that an off-center vortex will move in a circular trajectory around the trap center. We find the frequency of this precession to be smaller than the elementary excitation frequencies in the cloud. We also study the radiation of sound from a moving vortex in an infinite, uniform system, and discuss the validity of this as an approximation for the trapped case. Furthermore, we estimate the lifetime of a vortex due to imperfections in the trapping potential.
Vortex nucleation in a Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a stirring potential is studied numerically using the zero-temperature, two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In the case of a rotating, slightly anisotropic harmonic potential, the numerical results reproduce experimental findings, thereby showing that finite temperatures are not necessary for vortex excitation below the quadrupole frequency. In the case of a condensate subject to stirring by a narrow rotating potential, the process of vortex excitation is described by a classical model that treats the multitude of vortices created by the stirrer as a continuously distributed vorticity at the center of the cloud, but retains a potential flow pattern at large distances from the center.
Vortex dynamics in inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates are studied numerically in two and three dimensions. We simulate the precession of a single vortex around the center of a trapped condensate, and use the Magnus force to estimate the precession frequency. Vortex ring dynamics in a spherical trap are also simulated, and we discover that a ring undergoes oscillatory motion around a circle of maximum energy. The position of this locus is calculated as a function of the number of condensed atoms. In the presence of dissipation, the amplitude of the oscillation will increase, eventually resulting in self-annihilation of the ring.
We study the conservative dynamics and stationary configurations of a vortex-antivortex pair in a harmonically trapped two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate. We establish the conceptual framework for understanding the stationary states and the topological defect trajectories, through considerations of different mechanisms of vortex motion and the bifurcation of solitonlike stationary solutions. Our insights are based on Lagrangian-based variational calculations, numerical solutions of both the time-dependent and time-independent Gross-Pitaevskii equations, and exact solutions for the noninteracting case.
We derive, from the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, an exact expression for the velocity of any vortex in a Bose-Einstein condensate, in equilibrium or not, in terms of the condensate wave function at the center of the vortex. In general, the vortex velocity is a sum of the local superfluid velocity, plus a correction related to the density gradient near the vortex. A consequence is that in rapidly rotating, harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates, unlike in the usual situation in slowly rotating condensates and in hydrodynamics, vortices do not move with the local fluid velocity. We indicate how Kelvin's conservation of circulation theorem is compatible with the velocity of the vortex center being different from the local fluid velocity. Finally, we derive an exact wave function for a single vortex near the rotation axis in a weakly interacting system, from which we derive the vortex precession rate.
We have performed numerical simulations of various vortex configurations in a trapped BoseEinstein condensate by solving the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation in the presence of a simple model of interaction between the condensate and the finite temperature thermal cloud that surrounds it. In that interaction the non-condensed thermal cloud acts as a source of dissipation with a damping effect of excitations. In the case ora single vortex and a vortex - anti vortex pair, we have found that the path of the vortices depends on the initial position, the initial separation distance if the case of two vortices and dissipation. This motion is periodic and it was found that sound waves are created by vortex motion; the intensity was stronger when the initial vortex separation distance was smaller. We have calculated the sound energy as the difference between the kinetic energy and the vortex energy. With no dissipation the vortices followed the same path with a slight oscillation due to the sound waves. We found that the smaller the initial vortex separation distance do is, the larger the sound production. The period, frequency, translation speed, sound energy and vortex energy were measured for different initial separation distances do and for different dissipation parameters 'Y. In the case of motion of one vortex, the connection between the dissipation 'Y and the friction coefficients, a and a' was studied as well. To create a simple turbulent state, we put eight pairs of vortex - anti vortex at random positions in the condensate with initial separation distance do =1.8 between them. 'Ve have studied the decay rate of the total energy, kinetic energy, quantum energy, trap energy and the z - component of the angular momentum together with the increase rate of the internal energy. Finally, we finished our investigation by putting randomly vortex - anti vortex pairs and studied the decrease of the number of vortices with time t. We found that the decrease is exponential.
The low temperature dynamics of a vortex in a trapped quasi-two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate are studied quantitatively. Precession of an off-centered vortex in a dimple trap, embedded in a weaker harmonic trap, leads to the emission of sound in a dipolar radiation pattern. Sound emission and reabsorption can be controlled by varying the depth of the dimple. In a shallow dimple, the power emitted is proportional to the vortex acceleration-squared over the precession frequency, whereas for a deep dimple, periodic sound reabsorption stabilizes the vortex against radiation-induced decay.