Disordered vortex arrays in a two-dimensional condensate

Abstract

We suggest a method to create turbulence in a Bose-Einstein condensate. The method consists in, firstly, creating an ordered vortex array, and, secondly, imprinting a phase difference in different regions of the condensate. By solving numerically the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation we show that the motion of the resulting positive and negative vortices is disordered.