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Vortex ring dynamics in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

M.D. Reichl
E.J. Mueller

Abstract

We use the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation to study the motion of a vortex ring produced by phase imprinting on an elongated cloud of cold atoms. Our approach models the experiments of Yefsah on 6Li in the Bose-Einstein- condensate regime where the fermions are tightly bound into bosonic dimers. We find ring oscillation periods which are much larger than the period of the axial harmonic trap. Our results lend further strength to Bulgac 's arguments (arXiv:1306.4266) that the "heavy solitons" seen in those experiments are actually vortex rings. We numerically calculate the periods of oscillation for the vortex rings as a function of interaction strength, trap aspect ratio, and minimum vortex ring radius. In the presence of axial anisotropies the rings undergo complicated internal dynamics where they break into sets of vortex lines, then later combine into rings. These structures oscillate with a similar frequency to simple axially symmetric rings. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Date Published

Journal

Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

Volume

88

Issue

5

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84888378858&doi=10.1103%2fPhysRevA.88.053626&partnerID=40&md5=f3132a8c2b6770b47e189dd68f8d6600

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevA.88.053626

Funding Source

1068165
1144153

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