Abstract
We present a comprehensive theoretical study of vortex lattice formation in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates confined by a rotating elliptical trap. We consider rotating solutions of the classical hydrodynamic equations and their response to perturbations, as well as time-dependent simulations. We discriminate three distinct, experimentally testable, regimes of instability: ripple, interbranch, and catastrophic. Under symmetry-breaking perturbations these instabilities lead to lattice formation even at zero temperature. While our results are consistent with previous theoretical and experimental results, they shed further light on lattice formation.
- Received 6 April 2006
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.73.061603
©2006 American Physical Society