Spatially periodic structures of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate

The conditions providing the formation of periodic vortex lattices of an interference nature in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (i.e., in the absence of rotation of the condensate) are determined. Spatially periodic exact solutions of the nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equation (the generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation) that describes the Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas of alkali metal atoms with due regard for the nonlocality of interatomic interactions are obtained in the form of a set of two or three plane waves. It is shown that periodic vortex lattices can be produced in interference experiments with a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas of alkali metal atoms.