Emergence and decay of turbulence in stirred atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a slight elliptical deformation in a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate induces turbulence with a Kolmogorov spectrum, which eventually decays into a vortex lattice due to vortex-sound interactions.

Contribution

It reveals the mechanism by which weak elliptical deformation causes turbulence and its subsequent decay in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates.

Findings

Turbulence exhibits a Kolmogorov energy spectrum.

Energy transfer occurs via ejection of condensate fragments.

Turbulence decays into a vortex lattice through vortex-sound interactions.

Abstract

We show that a `weak' elliptical deformation of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate rotating at close to the quadrupole instability frequency leads to turbulence with a Kolmogorov energy spectrum. The turbulent state is produced by energy transfer to condensate fragments that are ejected by the quadrupole instability. This energy transfer is driven by breaking the two-fold rotational symmetry of the condensate. Subsequently, vortex-sound interactions damp the turbulent state leading to the crystalization of a vortex lattice.