Observation of vortex formation in an oscillating trapped Bose-Einstein condensate
Abstract
We report on the observation of vortex formation in a Bose-Einstein condensate of Rb-87 atoms. Vortices are generated by superimposing an oscillating excitation to the trapping potential introduced by an external magnetic field. For small amplitudes of the external excitation field we observe a bending of the cloud axis. Increasing the amplitude we observe formation of a growing number of vortices in the sample. Shot-to-shot variations in both vortex number and position within the condensed cloud are observed, probably due to the intrinsic vortex nucleation dynamics. We discuss the possible formation of vortices and anti-vortices in the sample as well as possible mechanisms for vortex nucleation.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0806.0814,
title = {Observation of vortex formation in an oscillating trapped Bose-Einstein condensate},
author = {E. A. L. Henn and J. A. Seman and E. R. F. Ramos and M. Caracanhas and P. Castilho and E. P. Olimpio and G. Roati and D. V. Magalhães and K. M. F. Magalhães and V. S. Bagnato},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0806.0814},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
1 figure added, text modified, accepted for publication Phys. Rev. A