2004/10/31 by V. Schweikhard, Volker Schweikhard, I. Coddington +7 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Bose–Einstein condensate #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Instability #Lattice (music) #Mechanics #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Quasiparticle #Spinor #Square lattice #Superconductivity #Superfluidity #Vortex #cond-mat.other
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.210403
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 210403 (2004) · 4 pages, 4 figures, minute wording changes
openalex publication_date 2004/11/17 · arxiv created 2004/11/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We observe interlaced square vortex lattices in rotating dilute-gas spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). After preparing a hexagonal vortex lattice in a one-component BEC in an internal atomic state |1, we coherently transfer a fraction of the superfluid to a different state |2. The subsequent evolution of this pseudo-spin-1/2 superfluid towards a state of offset square lattices involves an intriguing interplay of phase-separation and -mixing dynamics, both macroscopically and on the length scale of the vortex cores, and a stage of vortex turbulence. The stability of the square structure is proved by its response to applied shear perturbations. An interference technique shows the spatial offset between the two vortex lattices. Vortex cores in either component are filled by fluid of the other component, such that the spin-1/2 order parameter forms a Skyrmion lattice.