Meron Ground State of Rashba Spin-Orbit-Coupled Dipolar Bosons

TL;DR

This paper investigates how dipolar interactions influence the ground states of Rashba spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, revealing a stable meron spin configuration due to the interplay of spin-orbit coupling and dipolar effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of a stable meron ground state in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates with Rashba spin-orbit coupling, highlighting the role of spin-orbit interactions in complex quantum phases.

Findings

Identification of a stable meron ground state

Influence of dipolar interactions on phase diagram

Role of spin-orbit coupling in ground state structure

Abstract

We study the effects of dipolar interactions on a Bose-Einstein condensate with synthetically generated Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The dipolar interaction we consider includes terms that couple spin and orbital angular momentum in a way perfectly congruent with the single-particle Rashba coupling. We show that this internal spin-orbit coupling plays a crucial role in the rich ground-state phase diagram of the trapped condensate. In particular, we predict the emergence of a thermodynamically stable ground state with a meron spin configuration.