Emergence and decay of turbulence in stirred atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We show that a `weak' elliptical deformation of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate rotating at close to the quadrupole instability frequency leads to turbulence with a Kolmogorov energy spectrum. The turbulent state is produced by energy transfer to condensate fragments that are ejected by the quadrupole instability. This energy transfer is driven by breaking the two-fold rotational symmetry of the condensate. Subsequently, vortex-sound interactions damp the turbulent state leading to the crystalization of a vortex lattice.