Vortex scattering by impurities in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

Understanding quantum dynamics in a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) relies on understanding how vortices interact with each others microscopically and with local imperfections of the potential which confines the condensate. Within a system consisting of many vortices, the trajectory of a vortex-antivortex pair is often scattered by a third vortex, an effect previously characterised. However, the natural question remains as to how much of this effect is due to the velocity induced by this third vortex and how much is due to the density inhomogeneity which it introduces. In this work, we describe the various qualitative scenarios which occur when a vortex-antivortex pair interacts with a smooth density impurity whose profile is identical to that of a vortex but lacks the circulation around it.