Vortex lattice melting and critical temperature shift in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper explores how vortex lattice melting affects the critical temperature in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates, revealing contrasting shifts depending on system constraints and introducing a vortex-energy model to explain these phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a vortex-energy model that captures vortex interactions, lattice energy, and phase transition dynamics in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates.

Findings

Negative critical temperature shift for fixed trap potentials.

Positive shift for fixed volumes due to vortex lattice rigidity.

Insights into vortex lattice melting and thermodynamics of rotating condensates.

Abstract

We investigate a shift in the critical temperature of rotating Bose-Einstein condensates mediated by the melting of the vortex lattice. Numerical simulations reveal that this temperature exhibits contrasting behavior depending on the system configuration: a negative shift occurs for fixed trap potentials due to the expansion of the condensate, while a positive shift is observed for fixed volumes, where vortex lattice rigidity suppresses thermal fluctuations. We introduce a vortex-energy model that captures the role of vortex interactions, the positional energy of the vortex lattice, as well as the phase transition and how the vortex lattice disappears. The findings provide insights into the thermodynamic properties of rotating condensates and the dynamics of vortex lattice melting, offering potential parallels with other quantum systems such as type-II superconductors.