Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensates with Many Vortices

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates vortex lattice structures in antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates near the critical temperature, revealing complex, metastable vortex configurations and the instability of Abrikosov lattices.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed theoretical analysis of vortex structures in spinor BECs, showing the instability of traditional Abrikosov lattices and the emergence of diverse metastable vortex arrangements.

Findings

Abrikosov lattice with clear cores is never stable at any rotation.

Components shift cores to achieve uniform amplitude with complex magnetic configurations.

Multiple metastable vortex structures can be realized with small parameter changes.

Abstract

Vortex-lattice structures of antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates with hyperfine spin F=1 are investigated theoretically based on the Ginzburg-Pitaevskii equations near $T_{c}$. The Abrikosov lattice with clear core regions are found {\em never stable} at any rotation drive $\Omega$. Instead, each component $\Psi_{i}$ $(i=0,\pm 1)$ prefers to shift the core locations from the others to realize almost uniform order-parameter amplitude with complicated magnetic-moment configurations. This system is characterized by many competing metastable structures so that quite a variety of vortices may be realized with a small change in external parameters.