Transfer and storage of vortex states in light and matter waves

We theoretically explore the transfer of vortex states between atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and optical pulses using ultraslow and stopped light techniques. We find shining a coupling laser on a rotating two-component ground state condensate with a vortex lattice generates a probe laser field with optical vortices. We also find that optical vortex states can be robustly stored in the atomic superfluids for times, in Rb-87 condensates, limited only by the ground state coherence time.     

Vortex-Peierls states in optical lattices

We show that vortices, induced in cold atom superfluids in optical lattices, may order in a novel vortex-Peierls ground state. In such a state vortices do not form a simple lattice but arrange themselves in clusters, within which the vortices are partially delocalized, tunneling between classically degenerate configurations. We demonstrate that this exotic quantum many-body state is selected by an order-from-disorder mechanism for a special combination of the vortex filling and lattice geometry that has a macroscopic number of classically degenerate ground states.     

Tunable optical vortex arrays using spontaneous periodic pattern formation in nematic liquid crystal cells

Controllable liquid crystal (LC) defects can provide an effective approach to creating tunable optical vortices. We develop a method to create tunable matter vortex arrays in an LC cell, in which +1 and −1 defects are periodically arranged in a square grid lattice. Spontaneous formation of the periodic defect array is achieved using a spontaneous standing pressure wave without using any patterned electrode or patterned alignment layer. The +1 and −1 defects in the array can induce optical vortices with opposite handedness, and the matter vortex array produces a periodic optical vortex array with orbital angular momenta of −2ℏ and +2ℏ in the same grid lattice. Because the pitch of the grid can be controlled, the method can provide a useful pathway to producing tunable optical vortex arrays for various applications such as advanced optical communication and quantum computation.     

Structural phase transitions of vortex matter in an optical lattice

We consider the vortex structure of a rapidly rotating trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a corotating periodic optical lattice potential. We observe a rich variety of structural phases which reflect the interplay of the vortex-vortex and vortex-lattice interactions. The lattice structure is very sensitive to the ratio of vortices to pinning sites and we observe structural phase transitions and domain formation as this ratio is varied.     

Vortex-lattice melting in a one-dimensional optical lattice

We investigate quantum fluctuations of a vortex lattice in a one-dimensional optical lattice for realistic numbers of particles and vortices. Our method gives full access to all the modes of the vortex lattice and we discuss in particular the Bloch bands of the Tkachenko modes. Because of the small number of particles in the pancake Bose-Einstein condensates at every site of the optical lattice, finite-size effects become very important. Therefore, the fluctuations in the vortex positions are inhomogeneous and the melting of the lattice occurs from the outside inwards. By looking into correlations between neighboring vortices, we identify new solid and liquid phases. Tunneling between neighboring pancakes substantially reduces the inhomogeneity as well as the size of the fluctuations.     

Vortex sublattice melting in a two-component superconductor

We consider the vortices in a superconductor with two individually conserved condensates in a finite magnetic field. The ground state is a lattice of cocentered vortices in both order parameters. We find two phase transitions: (i) a "vortex sublattice melting" transition where vortices in the field with lowest phase stiffness ("light vortices") lose cocentricity with the vortices with large phase stiffness ("heavy vortices"), entering a liquid state (the structure factor of the light vortices vanishes continuously; this transition is in the 3Dxy universality class); (ii) a first-order melting transition of the lattice of heavy vortices, in a liquid of light vortices.     

Fractional quantum Hall states of atoms in optical lattices

We describe a method to create fractional quantum Hall states of atoms confined in optical lattices. We show that the dynamics of the atoms in the lattice is analogous to the motion of a charged particle in a magnetic field if an oscillating quadrupole potential is applied together with a periodic modulation of the tunneling between lattice sites. In a suitable parameter regime the ground state in the lattice is of the fractional quantum Hall type, and we show how these states can be reached by melting a Mott-insulator state in a superlattice potential. Finally, we discuss techniques to observe these strongly correlated states.     

Unconventional interaction between vortices in a polarized Fermi gas

Recently, a homogeneous superfluid state with a single gapless Fermi surface was predicted to be the ground state of an ultracold Fermi gas with spin population imbalance in the regime of molecular Bose-Einstein condensation. We study vortices in this novel state using a symmetry-based effective field theory, which captures the low-energy physics of gapless fermions and superfluid phase fluctuations. This theory is applicable to all spin-imbalanced ultracold Fermi gases in the superfluid regime, regardless of whether the original fermion-pairing interaction is weak or strong. We find a remarkable, unconventional form of the interaction between vortices. The presence of gapless fermions gives rise to a spatially oscillating potential, akin to the RKKY indirect-exchange interaction in non-magnetic metals. We compare the parameters of the effective theory to the experimentally measurable quantities and further discuss the conditions for the verification of the predicted new feature. Our study opens up an interesting question as to the nature of the vortex lattice resulting from the competition between the usual repulsive logarithmic (2D Coulomb) and predominantly attractive fermion-induced interactions.     

On the effective action of center vortices in continuum Yang-Mills theory

The effective action of sufficiently smooth center vortices in continuum Yang-Mills theory is investigated taking into account some of their basic properties observed in lattice simulations. The obtained action is given by the action of an ideal vortex configuration, which is local on the vortex worldsheet, nonlocal quantum corrections due to virtual gluon exchanges, which can be reliably calculated using perturbation theory, and the contribution of Abelian magnetic monopoles. Smooth center vortices appear to have negative rigidity. This implies that, in agreement with lattice data, in the ground state of the theory center vortices are not regular surfaces. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Vortex lattices in a rotating Fermi superfluid in the BCS–BEC crossover with many Landau levels

We present an explicit analytical analysis of the ground state of vortex lattice structure, based on a minimization of the generalized Gross–Pitaevskii energy functional in a trapped rotating Fermi superfluid gas. By a Bogoliubov-like transformation we find that the coarse-grained average of the atomic density varies as inverted parabola in three dimensional cases; the Fermi superfluid in the BEC regime enters into the lowest Landau level at fast rotation, in which the vortices form an almost regular triangular lattice over a central region and the vortex lattice is expanded along the radial direction in the outer region; the fluid in the unitarity and BCS regimes occupies many low-lying Landau levels, in which a trapped gas with a triangular vortex lattice has a superfluid core surrounded by a normal gas. The calculation is qualitatively consistent with recent numerical and experimental data both in the vortex lattice structure and vortex numbers and in the density profiles versus the stirring frequency in the whole BCS–BEC crossover.     

Periodic oscillations of Josephson-vortex flow resistance in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+y)

To study the Josephson-vortex system, we have measured the vortex-flow resistance as a function of magnetic field parallel to the ab plane in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+y) single crystals. Novel periodic oscillations of the vortex-flow resistance have been observed in a wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields. The period of the oscillations corresponds to the field needed to add "one" vortex quantum per "two" intrinsic Josephson junctions. The flow velocity is related to a matching effect between the lattice spacing of Josephson vortices along the layers and the width of the sample. These results suggest that Josephson vortices form a triangular lattice in the ground state where the oscillations occur.     

谐振子势与高斯势联合势阱中玻色爱因斯坦凝聚体的巨涡旋态

研究谐振子势与高斯势联合势阱中玻色爱因斯坦凝聚体的基态。发现凝聚体形成巨涡旋时,其涡旋个数等于平均角动量,且凝聚体密度分布和角动量密度分布相同,进而得到凝聚体形成巨涡旋时所处基态是角动量的本征态。发现势阱从各向同性的环形势阱逐渐变为各向异性的环形势阱的过程中,凝聚体的平均角动量与涡旋个数之比先由1平缓下降,然后迅速下降,最后保持在0.5附近。同时给出凝聚体密度分布和角动量分布的特征,并作出相应解释。     

Observation of discrete vortex solitons in optically induced photonic lattices

We report on the first experimental observation of discrete vortex solitons in two-dimensional optically induced photonic lattices. We demonstrate strong stabilization of an optical vortex by the lattice in a self-focusing nonlinear medium and study the generation of the discrete vortices from a broad class of singular beams.     

Dynamical vortex phases in a Bose-Einstein condensate driven by a rotating optical lattice

We present simulation results of the vortex dynamics in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a rotating optical lattice. Changing the potential amplitude and the relative rotation frequency between the condensate and the optical lattice, we find a rich variety of dynamical phases of vortices. The onset of these different phases is described by the force balance of a driving force, a pinning force, and vortex-vortex interactions. In particular, when the optical lattice rotates faster than the condensate, an incommensurate effect leads to a vortex-liquid phase supported by the competition between the driving force and the dissipation.     

Ultracold bosons with 3-body attractive interactions in an optical lattice

We study the effect of an optical lattice (OL) on the ground-state properties of one-dimensional ultracold bosons with three-body attractive interactions and two-body repulsive interactions, which are described by a cubic-quintic Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a periodic potential. Without the optical lattice and with a vanishing two-body interaction term, normalizable soliton solutions of the Townes type are possible only at a critical value of the interaction strength, at which an infinite degeneracy of the ground state occurs; a repulsive two-body interaction makes such localized solutions unstable. We show that the OL opens a stability window around the critical point when the strength of the periodic potential is above a critical threshold. We also consider the effect of an external parabolic trap, studying how the stability properties depend on the matching between minima of the periodic potential and the minimum of the parabolic trap.     

A Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Toroidal Trap

We have studied the ground state configurations of a rotating Bose-Einstein condensation in a toroidal trap as the radius of the central Gaussian potential expands adiabatically. Firstly, we observe that the vortices are devoured successively into the central hole of the condensate to form a giant vortex as the radius of the trap expands. When all the pre-existing vortices are absorbed, the angular momentum of the system still increase as the radius of the
gaussian potential enlarges. When increasing the interaction strength, we find that more singly quantized vortices are squeezed into the condensate, but the giant vortex does not change.     

具有面内四极磁场的旋转玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的基态结构研究

通过虚时演化方法研究了具有面内四极磁场的旋转玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的基态结构.结果发现:面内四极磁场和旋转双重作用可导致中央Mermin-Ho涡旋的产生;随着磁场梯度增强,Mermin-Ho涡旋周围环绕的涡旋趋向对称化排布;在四极磁场下,密度相互作用和自旋交换相互作用作为体系的调控参数,可以控制Mermin-Ho涡旋周围的涡旋数目;该体系自旋结构中存在双曲型meron和half-skyrmion两种拓扑结构.     

Ordered states and structural transitions in a system of Abrikosov vortices with periodic pinning

A system of Abrikosov vortices in a quasi-two-dimensional HTSC plate is considered for various periodic lattices of pinning centers. The magnetization and equilibrium configurations of the vortex density for various values of external magnetic field and temperature are calculated using the Monte Carlo method. It is found that the interaction of the vortex system with the periodic lattice of pinning centers leads to the formation of various ordered vortex states through which the vortex system passes upon an increase or a decrease in the magnetic field. It is shown that ordered vortex states, as well as magnetic field screening processes, are responsible for the emergence of clearly manifested peaks on the magnetization curves. Extended pinning centers and the effect of multiple trapping of vortices on the behavior of magnetization are considered. Melting and crystallization of the vortex system under the periodic pinning conditions are investigated. It is found that the vortex system can crystallize upon heating in the case of periodic pinning.     

Evaluation of a phase shifting method for vortex localization in optical vortex interferometry

The optical vortex interferometer uses a regular lattice of the optical vortices. In the previous papers we showed that changes in vortex lattice geometry can be related to physical quantities of the object being measured. The accuracy of such a measurement depends strongly on the precision of vortex point localization (vortex points are points where wavefront phase is undetermined). In this paper we compared the measurements of object wave tilt calculated from different localization methods applied to real interferograms and evaluate various localization methods.     

Vortex lattice generation using interferometric techniques based on lateral shearing

Interferometric techniques that use lateral shearing for generation of a regular network of optical vortices are reported. These techniques are simple, robust, and less sensitive to vibrations compared to the existing interferometric methods of vortex lattice generation. Vortex lattice is created using three-wave interference of plane as well as spherical waves. Theory of vortex lattice formation using phasor approach is provided. The location of vortices in the interference field is described in terms of spatial frequencies of the interfering waves. The presence of the vortices in the interference field is confirmed experimentally by producing fork fringes, as vortex signatures. Results of simulation studies are presented to support experimentally recorded interferograms.