arXiv · 0809.2078
Commensurability and hysteretic evolution of vortex configurations in rotating optical lattices
Abstract
We present a theoretical study of vortices within a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating optical lattice. Due to the competition between vortex-vortex interactions and pinning to the optical lattice we find a very complicated energy landscape, which leads to hysteretic evolution. The qualitative structure of the vortex configurations depends on the commensurability between the vortex density and the site density -- with regular lattices when these are commensurate, and concentric rings when they are not. We model the imaging of these structures by calculating time-of-flight column densities. As in the absence of the optical lattice, the vortices are much more easily observed in a time-of-flight image than \emph{in-situ}.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Daniel S. Goldbaum, Erich J. Mueller. 2008-09-11. Commensurability and hysteretic evolution of vortex configurations in rotating optical lattices. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.79.063625
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.