Optical visibility and core structure of vortex filaments in a bosonic superfluid

TL;DR

This paper uses optical imaging to study the structure of vortex filaments in a Bose-Einstein condensate, confirming theoretical predictions with experimental data.

Contribution

It provides the first direct optical measurements of vortex core structure in a superfluid, validating Gross-Pitaevskii equation predictions.

Findings

Optical contrast matches theoretical models

Vortex core width agrees with Gross-Pitaevskii simulations

Demonstrates the feasibility of optical imaging for superfluid vortices

Abstract

We use optical images of a superfluid consisting of a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms to investigate the structure of quantized three-dimensional vortex filaments. We find that the measured optical contrast and the width of the vortex core quantitatively agree with the predictions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.