David L. Feder

Watching Dark Solitons Decay into Vortex Rings in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

We have created spatial dark solitons in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates in which the soliton exists in one of the condensate components and the soliton nodal plane is filled with the second component. The filled solitons are stable for hundreds of milliseconds. The filling can be selectively removed, making the soliton more susceptible to dynamical instabilities. For a condensate in a spherically symmetric potential, these instabilities cause the dark soliton to decay into stable vortex rings. We have imaged the resulting vortex rings.

Dark-soliton states of Bose-Einstein condensates in anisotropic traps

Dark soliton states of Bose-Einstein condensates in harmonic traps are studied both analytically and computationally by the direct solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in three dimensions. The ground and self-consistent excited states are found numerically by relaxation in imaginary time. The energy of a stationary soliton in a harmonic trap is shown to be independent of density and geometry for large numbers of atoms. Large-amplitude field modulation at a frequency resonant with the energy of a dark soliton is found to give rise to a state with multiple vortices. The Bogoliubov excitation spectrum of the soliton state contains complex frequencies, which disappear for sufficiently small numbers of atoms or large transverse confinement. The relationship between these complex modes and the snake instability is investigated numerically by propagation in real time.

Numerical approach to the ground and excited states of a Bose-Einstein condensed gas confined in a completely anisotropic trap

The ground and excited states of a weakly interacting and dilute Bose-Einstein condensed gas, confined in a completely anisotropic harmonic oscillator potential, are determined at zero temperature within the Bogoliubov approximation. The numerical calculations employ a computationally efficient procedure based on a discrete variable representation (DVR) of the Hamiltonian. The DVR is efficient for problems where the interaction potential may be expressed as a local function of interparticle coordinates. In order to address condensates that are both very large (

VORTEX STABILITY OF INTERACTING BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATES CONFINED IN ANISOTROPIC HARMONIC TRAPS

\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{6}

Anomalous Modes Drive Vortex Dynamics in Confined Bose-Einstein Condensates

atoms) and fully anisotropic, the ground state is found using a self-consistent field approach. Experience has demonstrated, however, that standard iterative techniques applied to the solution of the nonlinear partial differential equation for the condensate are nonconvergent. This limitation is overcome using the method of direct inversion in the iterated subspace (DIIS). In addition, the sparse structure of the DVR enables the efficient application of iterative techniques such as the Davidson and/or Lanczos methods, to extract the eigenvalues of physical interest. The results are compared with recent experimental data obtained for Bose-Einstein condensed alkali-metal vapors confined in magnetic traps.

Nucleation of vortex arrays in rotating anisotropic Bose-Einstein condensates

Vortex states of weakly-interacting Bose-Einstein condensates confined in three-dimensional rotating harmonic traps are investigated numerically at zero temperature. The ground state in the rotating frame is obtained by propagating the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the condensate in imaginary time. The total energies between states with and without a vortex are compared, yielding critical rotation frequencies that depend on the anisotropy of the trap and the number of atoms. Vortices displaced from the center of nonrotating traps are found to have long lifetimes for sufficiently large numbers of atoms. The relationship between vortex stability and bound core states is explored.

Microscopic derivation of the Ginzburg-Landau equations for a d-wave superconductor

The dynamics of vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates are investigated both analytically and numerically. In axially symmetric traps, the critical rotation frequency for metastability of an isolated vortex coincides with the largest vortex precession frequency (or anomalous mode) in the Bogoliubov excitation spectrum. The number of anomalous modes increases for an elongated condensate. The largest mode frequency exceeds the thermodynamic critical frequency and the nucleation frequency at which vortices are created dynamically. Thus, anomalous modes describe both vortex precession and the critical rotation frequency for creation of the first vortex in an elongated condensate.

Beyond the Thomas-Fermi approximation for a trapped condensed Bose-Einstein gas

The nucleation of vortices and the resulting structures of vortex arrays in dilute, trapped, zero-temperature Bose-Einstein condensates are investigated numerically. Vortices are generated by rotating a three-dimensional, anisotropic harmonic atom trap. The condensate ground state is obtained by propagating the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in imaginary time. Vortices first appear at a rotation frequency significantly larger than the critical frequency for vortex stabilization, consistent with a critical velocity mechanism for vortex nucleation. At higher frequencies, the structures of the vortex arrays are strongly influenced by trap geometry.

Microscopic structure of a vortex line in a dilute superfluid Fermi gas

The Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations for a d-wave superconductor are derived within the context of two microscopic lattice models used to describe the cuprates: the extended Hubbard model and the Antiferromagnetic-van Hove model. Both models have pairing on nearest-neighbour links, consistent with theories for d-wave superconductivity mediated by spin fluctuations. Analytical results obtained for the extended Hubbard model at low electron densities and weak-coupling are compared to results reported previously for a d-wave superconductor in the continuum. The variation of the coefficients in the GL equations with carrier density, temperature, and coupling constants are calculated numerically for both models. The relative importance of anisotropic higher-order terms in the GL free energy is investigated, and the implications for experimental observations of the vortex lattice are considered.

Gaussian potentials facilitate access to quantum Hall states in rotating Bose gases.

Corrections to the zero-temperature Thomas-Fermi description of a dilute interacting condensed Bose-Einstein gas confined in an isotropic harmonic trap arise due to the presence of a boundary layer near the condensate surface. Within the Bogoliubov approximation, the various contributions to the ground-state condensate energy all have terms of order