2013/05/31 by Tapio Simula, T. P. Simula, T. C. Petersen +3
Computer Science · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides #Quantum Information and Cryptography #cond-mat.quant-gas #physics.optics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.88.043626
published as Phys. Rev. A 88, 043626 (2013) · 9 pages, 8 figures
arxiv created 2013/08/23 · openalex publication_date 2013/10/18 · arxiv updated 2013/11/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We propose a nonlinear atom-optics experiment to create diffraction catastrophes threaded by quantized vortex skeletons in Bose-Einstein-condensed matter waves. We show how atom-optical aberrations induced in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates evolve into specific caustic structures due to imperfect focusing. Vortex skeletons, whose cross sections are staggered vortex lattices, are observed to nucleate inside the universal diffraction catastrophes. Our observations shed further light on the structure and dynamics of Bose novae and suggest applications of matter wave diffraction catastrophes, including the detection of the order parameter pairing symmetry in cold gas experiments.