Exact calculation of the skyrmion lifetime in a ferromagnetic Bose condensate

TL;DR

This paper presents an exact method to calculate the tunneling rate and lifetime of skyrmions in ferromagnetic Bose condensates, providing insights into topological excitation stability.

Contribution

It introduces an exact calculation approach for skyrmion tunneling rates using the periodic instanton method, considering chemical potential dependence.

Findings

Prefactor depends on the chemical potential of core atoms.

Method can estimate lifetimes of various topological excitations.

Results applicable to other topological structures in condensates.

Abstract

The tunneling rate of a skyrmion in ferromagnetic spin-1/2 Bose condensates through an off-centered potential barrier is calculated exactly with the periodic instanton method. The prefactor is shown to depend on the chemical potential of the core atoms, at which level the atom tunnels. Our results can be readily extended to estimate the lifetime of other topological excitations in the condensate, such as vortices and monopoles.