Quantum Fluctuations of Vortex Lattices in Ultracold Gases

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum fluctuations influence vortex lattices in ultracold gases, introducing a variational approach that accounts for quasiparticle interactions, predicting observable effects and phase competition.

Contribution

It develops a variational method surpassing Bogoliubov theory by including quasiparticle interactions, providing new insights into vortex lattice properties.

Findings

Quantum fluctuations significantly affect vortex lattice properties.

Interactions between quasiparticles alter physical predictions.

Predicted experimental signatures of quantum fluctuations.

Abstract

We discuss the effects of quantum fluctuations on the properties of vortex lattices in rapidly rotating ultracold atomic gases. We develop a variational method that goes beyond the Bogoliubov theory by including the effects of interactions between the quasiparticle excitations. These interactions are found to have significant quantitative effects on physical properties even at relatively large filling factors. We use our theory to predict the expected experimental signatures of quantum fluctuations of vortices, and to assess the competition of the triangular vortex lattice phase with other phases in finite-sized systems.