Emergence of Turbulence in an Oscillating Bose-Einstein Condensate

Author(s)

Henn, E. A. L. ^[1] ; Seman, J. A. ^[1] ; Roati, G. ^{[2, 3]} ; Magalhaes, K. M. F. ^[1] ; Bagnato, V. S. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Fis Sao Carlos, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Florence, LENS & Dipartimento Fis, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino - Italy

^[3] CNR, INFM, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino - Italy

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Physical Review Letters; v. 103, n. 4, p. 045301-1-045301-4, July 2009.
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics
• Web of Science Citations: 174

Abstract

We report on the experimental observation of vortex tangles in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of 87Rb atoms when an external oscillatory perturbation is introduced in the trap. The vortex tangle configuration is a signature of the presence of a turbulent regime in the cloud. We also show that this turbulent cloud suppresses the aspect ratio inversion typically observed in quantum degenerate bosonic gases during free expansion. Instead, the cloud expands keeping the ratio between their axis constant. Turbulence in atomic superfluids may constitute an alternative system to investigate decay mechanisms as well as to test fundamental theoretical aspects in this field. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/57858-9 - National Institute for Optics and Photonics
• Grantee: Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants