2013/02/28 by Shih-Wei Su, Shih-Chuan Gou, Ashton Bradley +4
Physics and Astronomy · #Bose–Einstein condensate #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Josephson effect #Mechanics #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Scaling #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #Superconductivity #Vortex #cond-mat.quant-gas
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.110.215302
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 215302 (2013) · 5 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2013/05/03 · openalex publication_date 2013/05/23 · arxiv updated 2013/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Atomic Bose-Einstein condensates confined to a dual-ring trap support Josephson vortices as topologically stable defects in the relative phase. We propose a test of the scaling laws for defect formation by quenching a Bose gas to degeneracy in this geometry. Stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii simulations reveal a -1/4 power-law scaling of defect number with quench time for fast quenches, consistent with the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Slow quenches show stronger quench-time dependence that is explained by the stability properties of Josephson vortices, revealing the boundary of the Kibble-Zurek regime. Interference of the two atomic fields enables clear long-time measurement of stable defects and a direct test of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in Bose-Einstein condensation.