Local Spin-Gauge Symmetry of the Bose-Einstein Condensates in Atomic Gases

Abstract

The Bose-Einstein condensates of alkali atomic gases are spinor fields with local ``spin-gauge" symmetry. This symmetry is manifested by a superfluid velocity ${\bf u}_{s}$ (or gauge field) generated by the Berry phase of the spin field. In ``static" traps, ${\bf u}_{s}$ splits the degeneracy of the harmonic energy levels, breaks the inversion symmetry of the vortex nucleation frequency ${\bf Ω}_{c1}$, and can lead to {\em vortex ground states}. The inversion symmetry of ${\bf Ω}_{c1}$, however, is not broken in ``dynamic" traps. Rotations of the atom cloud can be generated by adiabatic effects without physically rotating the entire trap.