Skip to content

Nonequilibrium effects of anisotropic compression applied to vortex lattices in Bose-Einstein condensates

P. Engels, I. Coddington, P. C. Haljan, E. A. Cornell

cond-matarXiv:cond-mat/0204449

Abstract

We have studied the dynamics of large vortex lattices in a dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensate. While undisturbed lattices have a regular hexagonal structure, large-amplitude quadrupolar shape oscillations of the condensate are shown to induce a wealth of nonequilibrium lattice dynamics. When exciting an m = -2 mode, we observe shifting of lattice planes, changes of lattice structure, and sheet-like structures in which individual vortices appear to have merged. Excitation of an m = +2 mode dissolves the regular lattice, leading to randomly arranged but still strictly parallel vortex lines.

Create a lesson