Emergence of Classical Rotation in Superfluid Bose-Einstein Condensates

Abstract

Phase transitions can modify quantum behaviour on mesoscopic scales and give access to new and unusual quantum dynamics. Here we investigate the superfluid properties of a rotating two-component Bose--Einstein condensate as a function of changes in the interaction energy and in particular through the phase transition from miscibility to immiscibility. We show that the breaking of one of the hallmarks of superfluid flow, namely the quantisation condition on circulation, is continuous throughout an azimuthal phase separation process and displays intriguing density dynamics. We find that the resulting currents are stable for long times and possess a phase boundary that exhibits classical solid body rotation, despite the quantum nature of superfluid flow. To support this co-existence of classical and quantum behaviour the system develops a unique velocity flow profile, which includes unusual radial flow in regions near the phase boundary.

4 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Observation of persistent flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a toroidal trap
• Persistent currents in spinor condensates
• Interferometric measurement of the current-phase relationship of a superfluid weak link
• Turbulent velocity spectra in superfluid flows
• Controlling phase separation of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate by confinement
• Persistent currents in two-component condensates in a toroidal trap

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Odd-petal states and persistent flows in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates
• Vortex states and spin textures of rotating spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in a toroidal trap
• Time-of-flight expansion of binary Bose-Einstein condensates at finite temperature
• Immiscible and miscible states in binary condensates in the ring geometry
• Persistent currents in ultracold gases
• Spin-orbit-coupled spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates in a toroidal trap: even-petal-number necklacelike state and persistent flow
• Mixture of two unequally charged superfluids in a magnetic field
• Phase separation in a mixture of trapped charged Bose-Einstein condensates