Persistent currents in a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of disorder

TL;DR

This paper investigates how disorder affects persistent currents in a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a toroidal trap, revealing that strong interactions smooth density inhomogeneities but disorder still weakens current stability.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the interplay between disorder and interactions in sustaining persistent currents in a quasi-one-dimensional BEC.

Findings

Persistent currents exist despite disorder

Strong interactions smooth density inhomogeneities

Disorder reduces current stability

Abstract

We examine bosonic atoms that are confined in a toroidal, quasi-one-dimensional trap, subjected to a random potential. The resulting inhomogeneous atomic density is smoothened for sufficiently strong, repulsive interatomic interactions. Statistical analysis of our simulations show that the gas supports persistent currents, which become more fragile due to the disorder.