Vortices in Atomic Bose-Einstein Condensates: an Introduction

TL;DR

This paper provides a pedagogical overview of vortex physics in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates, including mechanisms of vortex nucleation and a novel approach using a Schrödinger equation with specialized boundary conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a new method for analyzing vortex nucleation in BECs using a one-particle Schrödinger equation with non-local and chiral boundary conditions.

Findings

Detailed discussion of vortex nucleation mechanisms

Introduction of a Schrödinger equation approach for vortex analysis

Insights into superfluid behavior in atomic BECs

Abstract

The occurrence of vortices in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) enables a description of their superfluid behaviour. In this article we present a pedagogical introduction to the vortex physics in trapped atomic BECs. The mechanism of the vortex nucleation in an atomic BEC is discussed in detail. We also discuss a recently proposed approach which treats the problem of vortex nucleation using a one-particle Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger equation with non-local and chiral boundary conditions.