Quantum gases with internal degrees of freedom give access to novel quantum vortex phases due to the interplay of mass and spin density-density interactions. Spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates facilitate unusual vortex phenomenology as they are able to host different ground state phases which can in turn support vortex configurations which support higher and even fractional winding numbers, such as polar core and Mermin-Ho vortices.
Complementary to this, experiments are now capable of producing homogeneous condensates using box potentials which in turn allows the investigation of magnetism in a clean nonlinear environment with unprecedented levels of control over the parameter space of the spinor model.
By solving the spin-1 Gross-Pitaevskii equation numerically we obtain ferromagnetic vortex solutions in a homogeneous setting, providing insight into the phenomenology of topological excitations in this system. We further present the spatial form of pairs of such excitations, in order to facilitate an understanding of the interactions between the allowed solutions of the spinor system.
About the presenter
Matthew Edmonds is a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland with CI Matt Davis. His research He is investigating multi-component and homogenous superfluids, as part of FLEET’s Research Theme 3, Light-transformed Materials.