paper

Vortex dynamics in spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

arXiv:1312.5289 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.89.023629

Abstract

I use a time-dependent Lagrangian formalism and a variational trial function to study the dynamics of a two-component vortex in a spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). For a single-component BEC, various experiments have validated this theoretical approach, for example a thermal quench that yields a quantized vortex in roughly 25% of trials. To be definite, I assume the specific spin-orbit form used in recent NIST experiments, which introduces a spatial asymmetry because of the external Raman laser beams. I here generalize this formalism to include a two-component order parameter that has quantized circulation in each component but not necessarily with the same circulation. For example a singly quantized vortex in just one component yields a BEC analog of the half-quantum vortex familiar in He-A and in -wave chiral superconductors. This and other unusual two-component vortices have both periodic trajectories and unbounded trajectories that leave the condensate, depending on the initial conditions. The optimized phase of the order parameter induces a term in the particle current that cancels the contribution from the vector potential, leaving pure circulating current around the vortex.

16 pages, three figures

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