Persistent current formation in a high-temperature Bose-Einstein condensate: an experimental test for c-field theory

TL;DR

This paper experimentally and numerically investigates how persistent currents form in high-temperature Bose-Einstein condensates, validating c-field theory through ab initio simulations that match experimental observations without fitting parameters.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative validation of c-field theory for persistent current formation in high-temperature BECs using ab initio simulations.

Findings

Damping and noise are crucial for accurate dynamics modeling.

The theory quantitatively matches experimental results.

No fitted parameters are needed for the simulation.

Abstract

Experimental stirring of a toroidally trapped Bose-Einstein condensate at high temperature generates a disordered array of quantum vortices that decays via thermal dissipation to form a macroscopic persistent current [T. W. Neely em et al. arXiv:1204.1102 (2012)]. We perform 3D numerical simulations of the experimental sequence within the Stochastic Projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation using ab initio determined reservoir parameters. We find that both damping and noise are essential for describing the dynamics of the high-temperature Bose field. The theory gives a quantitative account of the formation of a persistent current, with no fitted parameters.