Turbulence in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that quantum turbulence in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates exhibits unique features such as negative temperature states, anisotropic dissipation, and non-Kolmogorov energy scaling, distinguishing it from classical turbulence.

Contribution

It reveals fundamental differences in turbulence behavior between quantum and classical systems, including energy organization and scaling laws in rotating condensates.

Findings

Quantum turbulence develops a negative temperature state.

Energy scaling in quantum turbulence is non-Kolmogorovian.

Vortex disorder explains the observed energy scaling.

Abstract

Since the idea of quantum turbulence was first proposed by Feynman, and later realized in experiments of superfluid helium and Bose-Einstein condensates, much emphasis has been put in finding signatures that distinguish quantum turbulence from its classical counterpart. Here we show that quantum turbulence in rotating condensates is fundamentally different from the classical case. While rotating quantum turbulence develops a negative temperature state with self-organization of the kinetic energy in quantized vortices, it also displays an anisotropic dissipation mechanism and a different, non-Kolmogorovian, scaling of the energy at small scales. This scaling is compatible with Vinen turbulence and is also found in recent simulations of condensates with multicharged vortices. An elementary explanation for the scaling is presented in terms of disorder in the vortices positions.