Direct and reverse precession of a massive vortex in a binary Bose--Einstein condensate

Abstract

The dynamics of a filled massive vortex is studied numerically and analytically using a two-dimensional model of a two-component Bose--Einstein condensate trapped in a harmonic trap. This condensate exhibits phase separation. In the framework of the coupled Gross--Pitaevskii equations, it is demonstrated that, in a certain range of parameters of the nonlinear interaction, the precession of a sufficiently massive vortex around the center is strongly slowed down and even reverses its direction with a further increase in the mass. An approximate ordinary differential equation is derived that makes it possible to explain this behavior of the system.