Quantized vortices in superfluid helium and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This review summarizes recent advances in understanding quantized vortices in superfluid helium and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates, highlighting experimental and theoretical progress in quantum hydrodynamics and vortex dynamics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview connecting superfluid helium studies with cold atom condensates, emphasizing recent developments in vortex visualization and quantum turbulence.

Findings

Visualization of vortices in atomic BECs

Progress in quantum turbulence studies

Comparison of vortices in helium and cold atoms

Abstract

This article reviews recent developments in the physics of quantized vortices in superfluid helium and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. Quantized vortices appear in low-temperature quantum condensed systems as the direct product of Bose-Einstein condensation. Quantized vortices were first discovered in superfluid 4He in the 1950s, and have since been studied with a primary focus on the quantum hydrodynamics of this system. Since the discovery of superfluid 3He in 1972, quantized vortices characteristic of the anisotropic superfluid have been studied theoretically and observed experimentally using rotating cryostats. The realization of atomic Bose-Einstein condensation in 1995 has opened new possibilities, because it became possible to control and directly visualize condensates and quantized vortices. Historically, many ideas developed in superfluid 4He and 3He have been imported to the field of cold atoms and utilized effectively. Here, we review and summarize our current understanding of quantized vortices, bridging superfluid helium and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. This review article begins with a basic introduction, which is followed by discussion of modern topics such as quantum turbulence and vortices in unusual cold atom condensates.