Fluctuation-Driven Vortex Fractionalization in Topologically Ordered Superfluids of Cold Atoms

Abstract

We have studied spin structures of fluctuation-driven fractionalized vortices and topological spin order in 2D nematic superfluids of cold sodium atoms. Our Monte Carlo simulations suggest a softened pi-spin disclination structure in a half-quantum vortex when spin correlations are short ranged; in addition, calculations indicate that a unique non-local topological spin order emerges simultaneously as cold atoms become a superfluid below a critical temperature. We have also estimated fluctuation-dependent critical frequencies for half-quantum vortex nucleation in rotating optical traps and discussed probing these excitations in experiments.

5 pages, 2 figures; revised version accepted by Europhysics Letters

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• Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Crossover in a Trapped Atomic Gas
• Dynamical Creation of Fractionalized Vortices and Vortex Lattices
• Atomic quantum simulator for lattice gauge theories and ring exchange models
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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Spinor Bose-Einstein condensates
• Finite-temperature phase transitions in quasi-two-dimensional spin-1 Bose gases